Love Bites
by Renny Autumn
Summary: Ophelia "Lia" Moore is Liv Moore's older sister. Just as she's about to start her new job as Seattle PD's newest detective, she attends the Max Rager party, and loses her life...human life. Now she finds herself unexpectedly paired up with Clive Babineaux, and desperately needing Ravi Chakrabarti's cure.
1. The Party

Ophelia "Lia" Moore carefully smoothed down the hem of the exceedingly short skirt and turned to leave her apartment. Normally, she wouldn't be caught dead wearing something so revealing, but she felt the need to celebrate. She'd just gotten the call that she was being offered a position on the Seattle Police Department, something that she'd been working on for the better part of a decade. After she'd left the Marines, she'd immediately decided on entering the police academy, and she'd just finished at the top of her class.

She glanced at her phone, ignoring the wolf whistles that were directed toward her. Her eyebrows darted up in surprise when she saw who it was from. Olivia Moore. Her brilliant, beautiful, workaholic little sister very rarely had time to text her. All her free time was taken up by work, and of course by her fiancé, Major Lilywhite. Curious to see what her sister wanted, Lia unlocked her phone and opened the message.

 _Hi Lia. Mom told me the news. Congrats! I just got invited to a party by Marcy, and Major encouraged me to go. I'd hate to go by myself, so will you come and celebrate with me?_

Lia smiled, relief coursing through her. She'd been planning on going on a blind date, but she'd much rather spend time with her sister, especially since she barely had enough time for her _now_ , and Liv's wedding wasn't that far away. There were times when she felt a twinge of jealousy over her younger sister getting married before her, but she truly was happy for Liv and Major. Anyone who looked at them could see true love reflected in their eyes.

Liv sent her the address of the party, and Lia punched it into her GPS. Soon, she found herself heading out to Lake Washington, with excitement hanging in the air. The lively atmosphere of the party pulsed through the air, growing stronger every mile that Lia grew closer. She stepped out of her car and scanned the area for her sister. Soon, she caught sight of Liv's smiling face. She threw her arms around her sister and kissed the top of her head.

"Livvy, I've missed you sis! How's the greatest resident the hospital has ever seen? Have they offered you a permanent position yet?"

Liv beamed at her older sister, blushing at the compliments.

"I love my job. Helping people is what I was meant to do. I just know it."

Lia nodded, empathizing. She and Liv both loved their jobs for the same reason: they were helping people. She looped her arm in her sister's and headed for the party. People were crowded around the drinks table, and Lia couldn't help but wonder if the punch was spiked. Though she was tempted to ask them their ages, she wasn't officially a cop yet. Besides, then she'd embarrass Liv and ruin the party. No one likes the girl who narced on everyone.

As she and Liv walked around the party, they were approached by a tall man with sandy blonde hair and a bright yellow jacket.

"You looking to party? This is Utopium. It'll fry your brain, dip it in batter and fry it again."

Just as Lia was about to handcuff the man-he, she couldn't help it if she was trained to carry them at all times-Liv interrupted him.

"Having my brain treated like a corn dog. Not so tempting."

"You're pretty tempting."

The man reached for Liv, but this time Lia stepped in.

"Get your hand off my sister if you'd like to keep it."

He sputtered as Liv threw her drink at him, splashing him right in the face. As Lia smirked and turned away with Liv, the two of them stopped as people started screaming. Suddenly, the party had devolved into chaos, with people tearing each other limb from limb. Lia gagged slightly as she saw a man throw a spear at another man, the tip burying itself into the eyeball.

She pushed Liv forward, fear building into a lump in her throat. They were almost to the edge of the boat, almost to freedom, when the man in yellow grabbed at Liv, scratching her arm. Lia's eyes widened in fear as she saw his eyes were red and his veins were protruding from his face. Liv fell backwards into the water, and Lia felt her stomach drop. She ran for the man, attempting to tackle him to the ground.

Instead, she slammed against him, his body like stone. What the hell was he? He flipped her onto the ground and jumped on top of her. Terrified, she grabbed at his arms in an attempt to gain the upper hand. His long, bloody fingernails dug into her forearm as he leaned in toward her face. He bit down on her neck and she screamed as he held her down.

She used every last bit of strength she had to buck from underneath him, shoving him as far away as she could manage. Then she rolled toward the edge of the boat and threw herself into the water. As she swam away, she threw a glance back at the boat, watching as the man in the jacket fought with another crazed partygoer. She held a hand to her throat, feeling the sticky warm blood oozing from the wound he'd given her. It was deeper than she expected.

She tried in vain to locate Liv, but she kept swimming toward the shore, hoping to find Liv already there. Though her legs burned and her arms were growing tired, she kept paddling toward the shore.

As she reached the edge of the water, she took a weary step onto land. She spun in circles, growing more agitated as she saw nothing. The fire slowly grew larger, until the boat exploded in flames.

"LIV!"

She screamed, repeating her sister's name over and over until she was hoarse. She sat on the beach, weariness enveloping her. She watched the water, looking for any signs of a survivor. She shivered slightly as she sat, numbness filling her body.

Oh, god. Liv was dead.

The rational part of her brain was repeating the words over and over again. The tiny spark that still believed Liv was alive was growing dimmer and dimmer. What would she tell their mother?

She held a hand to her throat again. When she pulled it away, her entire hand was covered. Perhaps she wouldn't have to tell their mother at all.

But maybe she would just sit and wait for Liv to reach the shore. Yeah, that's what she'd do.

She closed her eyes and listened to the waves crash onto the shore, dreaming of her sister.


	2. Barbos De Porc (Part 1)

The _Barbos de Porc-Part 1_

Five Months Later

"Detective Moore! Can I see you for a moment?"

Lieutenant Suzuki sent a wave across the station, motioning for Lia to join him in his office. She gulped slightly, and quickly brushed past the lieutenant. She moved to take a seat in the first chair, but was surprised to see a man already sitting in it. The man nodded his head at her, and she sent him a nervous smile and returned the nod.

"Detective Moore. In the five months you've been working in homicide, you haven't really had a partner. In fact, you've requested to complete most of your cases solo when applicable. Why is that?"

Lia gulped before answering. It was hard enough to answer with the Lieutenant staring her down, but now she had a complete stranger adding to the suspense. Was she being replaced?

"I prefer to work alone, sir. Is there something unsatisfactory with my performance?"

"No, Moore. In fact, you've surpassed all expectation, and you came highly recommended, so that's not easily done."

"Well then, begging your pardon, sir, why did you call me in here?"

The lieutenant gestured to the man in the chair before speaking.

"This is Detective Clive Babineaux. He's been transferred in from Vice. He's going to be your new partner."

Lia's mind was reeling from the news. She'd kept herself separate from the other detectives, tried so hard to prove her value as an independent asset, and now she was getting saddled with a partner.

"But sir-!"

"My decision is final. Babineaux is new to the department and will need some help adjusting. You need to learn how to work on a team. I know it's been hard since Prescott, but I have faith that you and Babineaux will be a great team. You're dismissed. Play nice, detective."

Lia was momentarily stunned by the turn of events, but nevertheless decided to be nice to this...Detective Babineaux. She stood up and returned to her desk, only now noticing the box of supplies on top of Prescott's old desk. When she'd started five months ago, Detective Marshall Prescott had walked her through the ropes. On the rare occasions she needed a partner, she'd always request Prescott. And then he'd died last month of "mysterious circumstances." Suzuki had assured everyone in the department that the death was from natural causes, but Lia knew better.

She sat down in her chair and waited for Babineaux to show up. She glanced back at Suzuki's office, watching Suzuki hand a case file to Babineaux. He then pointed in her direction, a sour expression on his face. Lia bit down on her lower lip, a bad habit she'd had since she was a kid. What could he possibly be saying in there?

Lia turned away to look at her computer, trying not to panic. Man, anxiety was the worst. She needed to eat something soon. Maybe that would make her feel less anxious. She was sick of the panic attacks and the paranoia. Though, to be fair, it had paid off in her latest case. She'd had a gut feeling about the landlord, and her worrying had prevented another murder from happening.

She heard the door to Suzuki's office open, and she began furiously typing on her keyboard. Though what she was writing was pure nonsense, she needed to seem busy when Babineaux returned. He sighed deeply as he dropped into the desk chair, making a disgruntled noise when he sank farther down than he'd intended. She tried not to smirk as she watched him attempt to raise the chair, only to find himself sinking once more.

She herself had been stuck with that chair when she'd first arrived. It was almost like a ritual hazing of the newest detective. She bit her lip again to keep from laughing as Babineaux's chair sank for the fourth time. Perhaps in the spirit of their new (forced) partnership, she could help him with his chair issue.

"I see you've gotten the best seat in the department, Babineaux. Need some help?"

Clive shot her a steely glare, presumably thinking she was single-handedly responsible for his chair's gravity problem. Instead of responding to the icy vibe he sent her way, she hopped over his desk and grabbed the screwdriver she knew Prescott had taped under it. Clive shook his head, taken aback at two things: one, not only did she know there was a secret screwdriver under his desk (and perhaps she had been the one to put it there), but, two, she was removing a whole section of the chair-a section that seemed pretty important.

"Detective Moore, if-"

"Lia. I prefer to go by Lia. And since we're going to be partners, you may as well get used to using it."

He raised his eyebrows in surprise but nodded at her assertion.

"You're right. You can call me Clive. If I'm being honest, I'm not sure I really appreciate this whole 'partner' thing, but I think we can come to some sort of understanding."

Before she responded, Lia flipped the chair over, refastening some of the screws she had removed. Then she righted the chair and sat down, smiling widely at Clive when she stayed put. He held out his hand to help her stand up, which she gladly accepted, and tested the chair out for himself. While he whistled in appreciation of her fix, she returned the screwdriver to its place under the desk.

"So...Lia. What's the story with the screwdriver? Does this department have a lot of chair-related emergencies?"

His smirk told her that he was being smart with her, but she wasn't sure how comfortable she could be around him. Was he the overbearingly serious type, or could she make a joke and tease him and have him tease her back? Prescott lived for riling her up with his nonsense. If she got stuck with a partner who had a stick up his ass, she'd be in her own personal hell. Though she could be serious when the need called, Lia loved to laugh and joke around. Or, at least she used to. The thought sobered her.

"No, but I always live by the Boy Scouts motto: always be prepared."

With that, she brushed past Clive, who noticed her chilly new demeanor. He silently hoped this girl wouldn't turn out to be as mercurial as her recent partner had claimed. He'd dismissed the man's remarks as a sexist stereotype, but he'd have to wait longer to be sure. It would certainly take time for both of them to get used to each other.

Once back at her desk, Lia found Clive watching her. If she'd had the ability, she probably would've blushed. That was one good thing about her new lifestyle change. She had one hell of a poker face now. Clive looked like he wanted to say more, to ask her more questions, and Lia began panicking again. What if he found out about the party? What if he wanted to ask her questions about it? What if-?

Before Lia could fall down the rabbit hole of "what ifs," a trip she'd rather not revisit, he phone dinged with a message from her mother.

 _Meet at Liv and Peyton's place for Potluck Tuesday. I know you're busy, but family is the most important thing._

Lia groaned at the thought of dealing with her mother right now. As if she wasn't on edge enough as it was. Evan and Liv, on the other hand, she wouldn't mind seeing. She knew her mother had something up her sleeve, but maybe all three of the Moore children could talk some sense into their mother. She stared at her phone, calculating a response, and caught Clive watching her. She ignored his stare and focused on her phone, a move much harder to accomplish in her current paranoid state.

After sending what she believed to be an appropriate response, Lia locked her phone and set it back down on her desk. As she rubbed her temples, more out of habit than relief, Clive dropped a file folder onto her desk.

"Read up, partner. We don't have a lot of information on this one. I'm hoping our friends down at the morgue can dig something up for us."

Lia's only response was to dive headfirst into the file, instinct taking over. She flipped through the flimsy file and wrinkled her nose in disappointment at the lack of information. The crime scene photos painted a gruesome picture. Whoever this girl was, it was clear that she'd put up a fight.

"Suzuki gave this one to us as a test. He'd originally had Pratt on the case. What do you say we blow this out of the water and get him off our backs?"

Lia grinned, a warm feeling spreading through her. Maybe she and Clive would get along, after all.

After her shift, Lia wanted nothing more than to crawl into her bed and forget about everything. Except eating, of course. Lia was starving, but she'd already promised her mother that she'd come to "Potluck Tuesday." When she arrived, she found her mother, brother, Peyton (Liv's roommate), and Major. They all looked guilty, and Major looked uncomfortable.

Shit. This was _not_ a normal Potluck Tuesday.

Lia greeted Major with a hug, holding on to him for a few seconds longer than she usually did. She almost couldn't bear to see the expression on his face when she pulled away. God, it was killing him. It was killing them all. Lia sighed, and then moved on to Peyton and Evan. Her mother she held almost at arm's length as she hugged her.

Before Lia could ask her mother what was going on, she heard the door handle turning. Peyton was waiting there to ambush Liv.

"Hey, roomie. I know you probably won't be super into this..."

Liv hesitated before answering. "Okay."

"But I thought we'd reinstate Potluck Tuesday."

"We?"

"So we can all be together. On Tuesdays. Like old times, right? 'Cause we all just like, love you so much."

Lia smirked as she heard Liv and Peyton's voices grow closer. Lia knew that Liv would be shocked to see them all, especially Major. It hadn't taken Lia long to realize the game her mother was playing. She knew Liv would _not_ be pleased.

"And we want to make sure that you know that, because, uh, well, we're a little concerned."

Their mother, not to be outdone, gave her own opinion on the matter.

"Very concerned, honey. About your recent behavior. Which we find to be 100% unlike you."

Lia watched her sister take everything in with a stunned look on her face. After what had happened, Liv and Lia had both changed. The only difference was, that while Lia had tried to pretend that nothing was different, Liv had given up her career, her passion, and...Major. Lia knew that losing him was the worst thing her sister had to go through.

"That's me speaking on behalf of your brother, sister, and me."

Evan interrupted before Lia could. "No, it's not." But their mother continued anyway.

"What I'm about to say comes from a place of love. You know that, don't you?"

"That kind of depends on what you say."

"You're throwing away your life."

Say what you will about Eva Moore, she did not mince words. Lia had known her mother would say something like that, but she still cringed as the words cut into Liv.

"You traded a topnotch residency at the hospital for a job at the morgue. And far be it from me to weigh in on my daughter's personal life, but you will regret breaking off your engagement to Major till the end of time."

Then, as if to prove it to herself more than the rest of them, she added, "Place of love" before continuing.

"Do you have any idea how many women would kill to be with a man like this?"

Lia debated whether or not to interrupt her mother. On the one hand, watching her mother unfairly rip Liv to pieces (couldn't she see how this was killing Liv?) was the chicken's way out, but on the other hand, her mother was a force to be reckoned with, and all her training would not be enough to deal with her.

Thankfully, Major interjected before their mother could continue.

"Exactly four. Yeah, I've met 'em. Quality women. Yeah, I don't know who they plan on killing, or why they think that's my thing, but they're super-hot and ready for murder."

Despite the tension in the atmosphere, Lia cracked a smile at Major's antics. She knew she'd always liked him for a reason. If anyone was deserving of her little sister, it was Major.

That's what made this so god-awful.

"I was told that, um, we wouldn't be bringing up the engagement today. Just so you know."

Major seemed apologetic about everything that had happened, but Peyton quickly defended their mother, a skill only a lawyer could have.

"It's evidence. It speaks to state of mind."

"I was also told we weren't putting you on trial."

"Hey, you're not on trial."

Lia, Liv, and Major scoffed simultaneously before Peyton continued.

"It's just that you've changed so drastically since that night on the lake. In the six years we've lived together, you've been this force, this unstoppable, hyper-focused fireball. Now you just watch TV all day while lying on the couch. Like you're in a hospice."

Lia and Liv stared at each other for a moment. Peyton couldn't have realized how close her words were to the truth. Liv wasn't acting like she was waiting for death. She was already there.

Their mother decided to take another jab at Liv.

"This is the first time you're not volunteering for the children's hospital haunted house. And you know how important that is to me."

There it was. To their mother, this wasn't about Liv. It was about how Liv was letting her down. It was a new experience for her. Usually Lia was the one letting their mother down. First by joining the Marines instead of attending medical school. Then, by applying to the police academy when she'd finished her tour of duty.

"This isn't Potluck Tuesday. This is an intervention."

Liv had finally said more than one sentence, and Lia couldn't be more proud of her. She was calling their mother out. Honestly, it was about time.

"Told you she'd figure it out." Evan quipped, once again refusing to be a part of this process. Peyton took the lead once more.

"Okay, I'll...I'll just say it. We think you have PTSD. You go to a boat party and a bunch of crazy drunks start killing each other. And then the fire...I can't even imagine what you must have seen."

Lia inhaled sharply. There were moments when she could hardly breathe just by thinking about that night. The worst night of her life. And unfortunately, her last.

"We think you need professional help, though."

Before Liv was able to respond, their mother reared her head again.

"I don't understand it, Olivia. Ophelia endured the same party, witnessed the same massacre, and yet she has continued with no ill side effects. Although I don't know why both of you decided you liked the white-blonde hairstyle. It really doesn't flatter either of you."

Nope. Lia had been annoyed at this whole "intervention" bullshit, but her mother had crossed a line by comparing the two of them. Knowing Liv, she'd probably already beat herself up for that a million times before.

"Mom, that's not fair. Just because you can't see what I'm going through on the outside, doesn't mean I'm not suffering as much as Liv. Unless the four of you were there with us, you will never understand. Grief works differently in everyone. Liv is dealing with this in her own way."

Before their mother or Peyton could get a word in edgewise, Liv cut everyone off.

"I don't need help. But if it will make you feel better, I will come help with the haunted house. And I'm gonna hang out with Lia tonight, if that's okay with you, Peyton."

Peyton nodded while Liv disappeared into her room to grab a few things.

Eva edged closer to Lia and took her hand.

"Honey, are you really suffering? Was it really that bad?"

Lia bit her lip before replying. God, what could she say? Even her tour overseas on active duty wasn't as gruesome as that party.

"Yes, mom. It was indescribably awful. I think all of you need to go easier on Liv. This was even harder on her. Her coworker died, and she almost drowned."

Her mother said nothing, but she gently squeezed Lia's hand. Maybe she'd come around and go easy on Liv. At least slightly. Liv soon appeared at the doorway, bag in hand. Lia waved goodbye to everyone in the room, glancing at Major's grief-stricken face once more before she left.

God, when did things get so messed up?

"Of course she brought up the party. She's a lawyer, Livvy. She's not dumb. Anyone who has eyes can see that it totally messed us up."

Liv pursed her lips and sighed.

"Yeah, but they'll never know how messed up we really are. And that's what sucks the most. If I'd been able to give Major a legitimate explanation, at least I wouldn't feel so terrible. He'd know that I'm only trying to protect him and keep him from turning into a..."

Liv paused on the word. It was one that she and Lia used as infrequently as possible. Though they'd admitted to themselves what had happened at the boat party, they weren't quite comfortable using the word "zombie." It felt wrong somehow. Neither of them had signed up to live in permanent Halloween costumes.

"I know, Liv. And I'm sorry. If there was any way I could go back in time and keep us both from going to that party, I would."

Liv's head dropped low, and tears were filling her eyes. Zombies might not show all of their emotions, but crying, they could do. Lia was about to reach out and hold her, when Liv held her hand up.

"I'm sorry, Lia. It's my fault. I should've just gone home with Major, but, no, I invited you to go with me. I damned you as well as myself."

"Hey, you need to stop that. You had no way of knowing what would happen. Besides, there's no one I'd rather go through zombie hell with than you, little sis."

Liv's smile didn't reach her eyes, but at least she'd stopped crying. Though this life wasn't Lia's first choice (that would be living, after all), she was glad she had her sister to go through this with. She couldn't imagine how hard it would be to figure out survival as a zombie all on her own. She paused for a moment, pondering how she would have fed herself.

But thinking of food always made her hungry. And she didn't have any more leftovers.

At least she had liquor.

Lia gripped tightly onto her chai, her heels clicking on the smooth tile floor. She and Liv had stayed up all night talking, but Lia felt as refreshed as if she'd gotten twelve hours of sleep. She was certain that her dinner had something to do with her energy, and, besides, zombies didn't really need the regular eight hours of sleep that humans did. It was both a blessing and a curse. She could stay up all night working on a case with no ill side effects, but more time gave her more opportunity to lament the life she'd lost.

She shook her head again, and quickly made her way to her desk. Clive wasn't there yet, and Lia welcomed the reprieve. Though it seemed she and Clive had come to an understanding about their partnership, she wasn't quite ready to give up all of her alone time. Though, that was easier said than done when some of the other detectives decided to come in early. The one she detested the most just so happened to be in this morning.

"Moore! I was hoping I'd catch you alone."

Lia summoned every ounce of tact and tried not to shudder. She absolutely abhorred Pratt, and now she was stuck alone with him in the office. Ever since she'd joined the Homicide department, he'd hovered around her like a bee near a flower. She wasn't sure what it was about him, but he gave her the creeps. Plus, he was a dick to people as a way of showing dominance. He was definitely overcompensating for something.

"Can it wait, Pratt? I was about to visit the morgue and see if they discovered anything about my Jane Doe."

Plus, she wanted to check up on Liv. She might not be working her dream job down at the morgue, but she was still helping people by solving their murders...and it didn't hurt that she was single-handedly feeding two hungry zombies, thereby preventing further issues.

"Friday. You, me, and a bottle of wine at Francisco's. What do you say?"

What she wanted to say was a slew of curse words followed by a swift kick to the groin, but she heard a throat clear behind her, and she turned to find Clive standing with his hands in his pockets.

"Am I interrupting?"

"Not at all, partner." She turned back to Pratt.

"Sorry. This Friday's not looking so good for me. I'm very busy with this case, after all."

Before anyone could say anything else, she reached out and grabbed Clive's arm, dragging him back out the door. When they were clear of the office and Pratt's earshot, she let go of Clive's arm and shuddered violently.

"Ugh, gross."

"So, you wanna explain now, or wait for the next time he sexually harasses you?"

Lia cringed, unsure of what to say. Clive, at least, had recognized it for what it was. When she'd tried to mention something to Suzuki, he'd blown her off and made excuses for Pratt. She was willing to give Clive a chance, though. He would probably be the best person to help her avoid those situations in the future.

"When I started five months ago, he immediately offered to show me around. My desk partner, Prescott, wouldn't hear of it. Prescott kind of protected me from some of it, but he wasn't always around. Pratt likes to wait until I'm all alone to approach me and ask me out. I've talked to Suzuki and have gotten nowhere."

Clive made a lemonade face and shook his head. She could tell he was irritated, but she was pretty sure it wasn't at her.

"Well, he seems like the kind of guy who would do that. If you want, I'll keep an eye out for you."

"Thanks, Clive. I appreciate it."

When she smiled at him, he returned it in full, and Lia began to feel confident in this new arrangement. But she knew she had to be cautious regardless of how well they were getting along. It was only a matter of time before he got close enough and figured out what she was.

So, when he casually motioned for the door, she tensed.

"We should head over to the morgue and touch base with them about our Jane Doe."

Lia wavered, unsure of what to say. She usually avoided the morgue at all costs, preferring to email the head coroner rather than drop in and ask the questions in person. And when she did stop by the morgue, it wasn't on police business. Rather, she stopped by for dinner with Liv.

They were always careful to make sure that Liv's boss was not around when Lia stopped by. They needed to appear as normal as possible, even though normal was something way out of their spectrum at present. If she was to show up at the morgue now, still hungry from the night before...well, she wasn't sure what would happen.

"Well, you see, Clive, I was actually going to..."

But he wasn't paying her any attention. He'd already started moving down the hallway, and Lia had little choice but to follow. Her only other alternative was to deal with Pratt all by herself. Besides, she could check on Liv and see how she was doing this morning while she worked. It was actually the perfect cover.

Clive strode confidently into the morgue, while I hesitated upon entering.

"Dr. Death. What's the story with my Jane Doe? You ID her yet?"

"Uh, not yet, Detective. Uh, we ran her prints through the system and got nothing back. I'll process her dental records next. Did you find anything in the dumpster that can help us? Please say vomit."

Lia had been hiding behind the doorway, but the soothing British voice she heard coming through made her less wary of Liv's boss, the man she hadn't met yet. Well...that is until he seemed excited at the prospect of vomit. That kind of made Lia think he was psychotic. She peered around the doorway and gulped before striding in next to her partner.

She wasn't expecting him to look so...normal. Why had Liv made it seem like he was a weirdo? She barely noticed her sister behind him, she was too focused on the puzzle in front of her. As she carefully studied him, she couldn't help but notice him studying her. She wished that mind-reading was a zombie benefit, and wanted to hide behind something again. At least until her paranoia wore off.

Clive, completely oblivious to Lia's racing thoughts, held up a pair of handcuffs.

"These. They aren't police issue. They're novelty."

At his words, Lia watched her sister's expression turn blank, as though she was having a stroke. It could only mean one thing. Liv had eaten already, and now she was having a vision. Lia hated whenever she had a vision. For one, they were completely disruptive (she never managed to get one during a commercial break), and two, depending on the vision, it was reliving the worst moments of a person's life.

As Liv was reliving some memory in the dead girl's brain, Clive continued talking.

"Your report said cause of death was blunt force trauma. You sure it wasn't just the garbage can crushing the skull?"

Suddenly, without warning, Lia heard her sister speak up.

"Shoplifting. In Canada." When everyone turned to look at her, Liv continued. "She was arrested for shoplifting in Vancouver in 2008."

Shit. What was Liv thinking? There was no logical explanation for why she would know that information. Lia gnawed the inside of her lip to keep from saying anything. Unfortunately for them both, Clive did.

"And you know this because...?"

"That's when Obama was elected."

Lia rolled her eyes, and stopped herself from putting a hand on her forehead. Liv, what were you thinking?

"It was just a hunch, forget it."

But Clive didn't want to back down.

"Ah, that's a pretty specific hunch."

Lia opened her mouth to speak, but Liv's boss interrupted her. What was with people not letting her speak lately? It seemed every time she wanted to stick up for Liv, someone else beat her to the punch.

"Detective Babineaux, my resident, Olivia Moore. I think Liv's not feeling well. Could it be something you ate?"

While Clive started at the mention of Liv's last name, Lia whipped her head at Liv's boss in surprise when he purposefully emphasized the word "ate." Did he know? How much did he know? Would he try to kill either of them? Lia's thoughts were racing once more when Clive turned toward her.

"Moore. Relative of yours?"

Liv's boss eyed her curiously, and she cleared her throat before responding.

"Yes. Clive, this is my little sister, Liv. Sorry I never got a chance to mention her sooner."

She moved to stand next to Liv, and she tried not to panic as both men looked back and forth between the two women. But while Clive merely nodded and seemed unperturbed by the news, Liv's boss seemed positively ecstatic. Lia decided that while he might seem normal on the outside, he was definitely a weirdo.

Clive went back to questioning Liv about her information. Lia had to hand it to her partner. He was not easily distracted. But right now, she hated him for it.

"So what, did she have Moosehead in the bloodsteam? 'I heart shoplifting' tattoo?"

"Well..." Liv began, but her boss interrupted her. Apparently, Lia wasn't the only Moore woman who kept getting interrupted.

"Stephanie Germonotta!"

Lia knew she'd heard that name before...but she couldn't remember where. Why couldn't she remember?

"Arrested November 6th, 2008, in Vancouver for shoplifting. The prints match. This is our girl."

"Are y'all screwing around with me? How did you know that? I want a straight answer. Did your sister give you this information ahead of time?"

He glared at both Moore women, who looked at each other, dumbfounded. Lia couldn't believe what he was accusing her of. It didn't make any sense at all.

"Liv's a...psychic."

At the sound of his voice, Lia turned to look at Liv's boss once more. She tilted her head, nonplussed. Why was he trying to protect Liv? Did he have feelings for her? Lia couldn't blame him. Liv was beautiful and smart, and kind. But he was wasting his time if that was the case. There would only be one man for Liv. And unfortunately, she could never have him.

"Fine. That's how we'll play it. Everyone screws with the new guy. See you back at the station...partner."

With a chuckle, Clive jogged out of the morgue, leaving Lia behind completely.

Liv shrugged and waved a hand at her boss.

"I guess I should introduce you two. Lia, this is my boss, Ravi Chakrabarti. Ravi, this is my big sister, Ophelia."

"Lia." She said, extending her hand out to shake his.

But instead of returning the greeting, his hand snaked out and grabbed her arm, his fingers pressing against her wrist. Before she could yank her arm from his grasp, he let it go, laughing as he did so.

Just as she was about to tell him off for being so forward (and incredibly creepy), he turned back to Liv and said three words. Three words, but they were enough to (metaphorically) take Liv's breath away.

"She's one too."


	3. Barbos De Porc (Part 2)

The _Barbos de Porc-Part 2_

"She's one too."

Ravi Chakrabarti couldn't contain his excitement. Not only had he finally been able to study his resident, Liv, and ask her how she acquired zombieism, but now he could ask another friendly zombie about her experiences. Only...this one didn't seem so friendly.

In fact, as soon as Ravi had grabbed her hand to check her pulse, she seemed ready to hurl him across the room. And given the fact that her profession was a police officer, he was fairly certain she could have done that without any additional zombie strength. It remained to be seen whether or not zombies actually possessed any extra strength or weaknesses, and he was eager to begin his research.

Lia, on the other hand, was dumbfounded. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. She needed to grab Liv and both of them needed to get as far away from this lunatic as possible. He knew their secret! He could tell all of Seattle that they were brain-eating members of the walking dead, but Liv seemed as calm as ever.

Lia studied him for a moment, startled when he took a step closer to her. He seemed almost ecstatic that she and her sister were damned to an eternity as the undead. She narrowed her eyes at him and backed away, hissing her words at him.

"What is your problem?"

Ravi's eyebrows furrowed in confusion, unsure of what to make of the angry zombie in front of him. Liv had seemed more frightened when he'd finally confronted her about it. She'd also been more confused when he'd eagerly asked her questions about her experience. Her sister was just pissed. He decided that his best bet was to approach her carefully and assure her that he meant no harm.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to startle you. Liv and I were discussing her condition when you and Clive showed up. I am curious about what happened, and was just excited at the prospect of gathering more symptoms to add to my list. This disease may affect different people in different ways. And since you're sisters, I can study genetics as well."

Lia blinked at him, stunned by his admission. He wanted to _study_ her? Like she was a lab rat or creature in the wild? And Liv, too! This man was unbelievable.

"Ravi used to work for the CDC. That's why he wanted to know more about our condition."

Lia frowned at him, glancing at him once more. He was young, almost too young to have the necessary qualifications to work at the CDC. She'd looked into it once, when her mother was breathing down her neck about going into medical school. His social ineptitude could be explained by his intelligence, and he did seem more educated than the regular lunatics she encountered.

She decided she could play nice, after all. He was Liv's boss, for starters, and, secondly, he knew they were zombies and hadn't send a mob of angry villagers with pitchforks after them. She supposed that, temporarily at least, she could trust him.

But before Lia could extend an olive branch, Ravi sharply turned away from her and faced Liv instead.

"Speaking of your condition...tell me that vision was brain related."

"It's one of the side effects. When I eat a brain I get visions. Flashes of memories or dreams. I don't know exactly what they are, but it feels like being on somebody else's acid trip."

Lia shuddered, remembering some of the more violent visions she'd had. Even though they'd occasionally been helpful, Lia knew she'd rather live without them. Or whatever you'd call her current existence.

"Do you mind if I run a cognitive evaluation before the end of your shift? And maybe get a few saliva samples?

"Mind? It's what I live for."

Lia shook her head at the two of them, acting as though everything was perfectly normal. Ravi's boyish enthusiasm for their plight made him both exceedingly obnoxious and mildly endearing. While he prepped everything for Liv's evaluation, Lia walked over to the computer screen he'd been looking at earlier.

Stephanie Germonotta. Why did she know that name? The answer was on the tip of her tongue, she just knew it. As she was contemplating why she knew the name, Liv walked up beside her.

"Hey, Lia. Sorry I never got a chance to warn you about Ravi. He told me he knew this morning."

"It's okay. As long as he doesn't go around telling anyone."

The Moore girls both turned to watch Ravi bustle around the room excitedly preparing everything he needed, muttering happily to himself. They looked back at each other and smirked, breaking into laughter.

"He's really a good guy. And the best boss I've ever had. I know you'll like him when you get to know him better."

"If you say so, Livvie. But he's a total weirdo."

"All the best ones are."

Lia playfully shoved her little sister and gave her a hug before moving toward the exit. She had a long day ahead of her, and she was sure Clive was beginning to wonder what was taking her so long.

"Lia wait!"

She paused mid-step as Ravi called out to her.

"I know you have to get back to work, but would you mind stopping by sometime so I can run some tests?"

Lia considered his question carefully. Did she really want to get poked and prodded like a lab rat just to fulfill his curiosity? While the answer to thank was most certainly not, she supposed that it couldn't hurt to let him gather samples and compare her disease to Liv's.

"Sure. I'll stop by sometime."

Ravi smiled widely, and Lia surprised herself by smiling back in response.

"Until then." 

Lady Gaga. Of course. Lia smacked a hand to her head as she pulled her car into the parking lot. She thanked her lucky stars that Queen's "Radio Gaga" happened to play on her iPod this morning. It was enough to jog her memory. She had to tell Clive about what she'd figured out. Their Jane Doe had used a fake name. But first, she needed to see Liv about breakfast. She couldn't do much work on an empty stomach.

As she walking into the morgue, she looked around for Liv, but she couldn't find anyone.

"Hello?"

Ravi's head shot out from his office, and his face lit up in a grin upon seeing Lia.

"Detective Lia! Are you here for your tests?"

She smiled at him, shaking her head.

"No, sorry. I'm here for some breakfast. Is Liv here?"

"No, she's not here yet. But I can make you something. Do you like omelets?"

Well, she did, but usually she added an extra special ingredient to hers. Ravi must have sensed her hesitation, because he quickly clarified.

"With gray matter, of course. And hot sauce, too, I hear?"

Lia bit her lip to stop a smile from spreading across her face. It was still a surprise that he was so _normal_ about their condition. He wasn't scared of either of them, and he was actively helping them. Maybe this is what Liv was talking about. He wasn't so bad. He gathered all the ingredients and began mixing everything together. Lia wasn't sure what to do next, so she decided to get to know him a little better.

"So, Ravi, what made you take a job at the morgue? You didn't like the CDC?"

"I got canned. They didn't like my predictions about the next threat coming from biological warfare."

Lia was surprised with how matter-of-fact he was about it. Though, given her current predicament, he was probably right. A zombie outbreak could devastate the country.

"Oh. I'm sorry."

"Don't be. If I hadn't gotten canned, I wouldn't be here, making a gray matter omelet for an undead detective."

He was messing with her, and Lia couldn't help but laugh. It felt good to laugh. Soon, both of them were wiping tears from their faces.

"Yes, it's a dream come true for you."

"Well, in all honesty, it is now. Being able to research and possibly cure a disease was why I joined them in the first place. I wanted to make a difference."

"Wow. That's...amazing. That's why I joined both the Marines and the Police Department."

Ravi looked taken aback by what she'd said.

"You were in the Marines?"

"Semper fi."

She grinned as she said the Marine's motto. She'd always be grateful to the recruiter who'd harassed her about joining, even though he did get a verbal lashing from her mother because of it. The sense of community she'd found there could never be replicated.

Before Ravi could ask her any more questions, Liv burst into the room.

"Ravi I-"

Liv stopped upon seeing her sister, especially since Ravi was placing her omelet on a plate and dousing it in Sriracha. Lia jumped up from the chair she was sitting on, and walked over to Liv.

"What's wrong, Livvy? Did something happen."

Liv took a deep breath before responding.

"I had a vision. She was screaming, and a man in a mask said 'Who's Johnny?' and when he took off his mask it was...Johnny Frost."

Ravi handed Lia her omelet and walked over to his computer, pulling up a video of KSTW's weatherman. They watched as he talked about the weather and spun an umbrella while an announcer introduced him. Ravi spun around in his chair, his face grim.

"You saw KTSW's own Johnny Frost murder our Jane Doe?"

"Just the pre-murder part."

"You have to tell detective Babineaux."

"I was kind of hoping you could do that."

Ravi gave Liv a look, and she began to backpedal.

"You're the one who told him I was a psychic. I'm having a hard enough time pretending I'm alive, let alone throwing a performance as a psychic into my repertoire."

"Liv, you ate the girl's temporal lobe. Going to the police with her potential murderer is the least you can do."

Liv turned to her sister.

"Can't you tell him? He's your partner."

"No way, little sis. You're the one who's a psychic. If I go to him with a hunch, he'll want to know _why_ I suddenly think we need to investigate Johnny Frost. And I won't have a reason. Come with me to the station. We can both talk to Clive. But first, I'm eating this delicious looking omelet."

When Lia had finished eating, she thanked Ravi and practically dragged Liv out of the morgue. She wondered if Liv was as wary of the police station as Lia had been of the morgue. When they walked in, Lia noticed how empty the desks looked, and noticed that Clive and many of her colleagues were with Suzuki. Clive did not look pleased.

Liv was sitting at Clive's desk, and Lia watched as she placed a red stapler into her bag. Before she could ask Liv about it, Lia heard laughing coming from Suzuki's office. Clive seemed to be the butt of some kind of joke, and Lia began to worry about her new partner. What had he done?

As he walked out of the office, laughter still emanating from the room, he rubbed his temples, and Lia wondered what kind of mood he would be in. He walked over to his desk, where Liv and Lia were, and shook his head at Liv.

"Miss Cleo. Tell me, is my day going to get worse?"

"Hell if I know."

"Yeah, that's what I thought."

"Look I saw something that I thought you should know about."

"Oh, saw with your eyes or saw with your 'gift'?"

Clive's skepticism toward Liv's ability was understandable, but Lia bristled slightly at how rude Clive was being. She opened her mouth to tell him off, when she heard voices singing behind her.

"Ga ga oh la la."

Shit. Clive told Suzuki about their Jane Doe. And she hadn't gotten a chance to tell him about the fake name. She now seriously regretted stopping for breakfast. She could have stopped Clive from embarrassing them both.

"I think those guys want your bad romance. Unless singing Gaga around the station is a cop thing."

Liv glanced at her sister, who shook her head at the sarcasm.

"Only after one of their peers proudly reports Stefani Germanotta as the name of the murder victim. That name you gave me is Lady Gaga's real name. So you know..."

"Oh. The Jane Doe must have given that name to the police when she was arrested in Vancouver. It's still the girl."

"Lieutenant's breathing down my neck, and now I'm back to square one."

Clive opened an energy drink, and Lia fought the urge to take it away from him. The last thing she needed was a partner who was hopped up on caffeine.

"Like I said, I saw something. I think I saw who killed her."

"That's great. Do tell. I'll pick him up. Maybe grab some lunch. What'd you say his name was again?"

Liv hesitated a minute before responding.

"Johnny Frost."

Clive looked up from the notepad he was going to write on and raised his eyebrows at Liv.

"The weatherman for Channel 11?"

"Look, I brought the info to you, you can do with it what you will."

Liv stood up, turning away to leave, when Clive spoke again.

"So you just come up in here, dump a pile of crazy on my lap, and expect me to put my reputation, not to mention your sister's, on the line by grilling this guy?"

"Yeah, I guess. Bye."

"No, no, no, no, no. It's not gonna work like that. We're all gonna go talk to the weatherman."

"Wait. Me? What?"

Lia, who had stood watching the scene, knew that Clive's mind was made up. Whether Liv liked it or not, she was stuck in the middle of their investigation. All because of a stupid vision. But if it could help their case, Lia was willing to do anything. 

When they got to the station, they were informed that Johnny was currently in the middle of filming the weather segment. They waited to the side, watching as he talked about the weather being in the low 50s, and making hot cocoa. Lia wrinkled her nose at his face enthusiasm. She'd never liked Johnny Frost. He'd always creeped her out. She wandered toward the food table, eyeing the red napkins they had lined up near the paper plates and cups. She checked to make sure no one was looking before she stuffed a handful into her bag. She then rejoined Liv and Clive, who were watching Johnny finish his segment.

Liv crossed her arms and pointed at Johnny.

"Yep. That is definitely the guy from my vision. Can I go now?"

"Oh, hell no. We're about to know whether you're the real deal or a one-trick pony."

"Oh, what? You're gonna say, 'My psychic friend here says you're a murderer. Sign this confession'."

"Nope. Won't need to."

Clive held up a photo of their Jane Doe.

"When he sees this photo, his reaction will let us know how psychic you really are."

Liv scoffed, but Lia smirked. Men who underestimated the Moore women always got their comeuppance.

"Excuse me, Mr. Frost."

Clive held out the picture of the girl, but Johnny seemed to misunderstand. He reached for a pen in his coat pocket, eager to sign an autograph.

"Oh. Happy to! Who do I make it out to?"

Clive held up his badge, surprising Johnny.

"Seattle Police Department."

As Johnny looked at the picture Clive was holding, his face fell. Clive looked at Liv with a shocked expression, and Liv smirked and shrugged.

"I take it you know her."

"I don't. Any more questions you can ask with my lawyer present."

Johnny turned to Liv before leaving.

"You could use some sun, young lady."

Lia laughed out loud at Johnny, despite his refusal to answer their questions. Liv didn't need sun. Liv needed a cure.

Liv crossed her arms again before slowly saying, "Here's Johnny!"

Johnny Frost froze before hurrying back to Liv.

"Did she record our sessions? Look. I'm a beloved public figure. Isn't there something we could do to just make this go away?"

Lia and Clive rolled their eyes at his audacity. What was it about celebrities that made them think they could get away with...well, murder?

"Generally speaking, murder isn't something we just let slide."

"Murder? Tatiana's dead?"

 ** _Tatiana was in a park. Lia could see trees and hear a fountain in the background. She was headed somewhere. Her phone was buzzing, but she ignored it. It gave another buzz, indicating that there was a voicemail from Tess. Tatiana looked at the picture of Tess on her phone, and turned the screen off, looking around watching to make sure she wasn't being followed._**

Lia tried her best to remain stoic, but Liv could tell that she'd seen something. Clive was talking to Johnny, and Johnny said he would take them back to his office and tell them everything they needed to know about the girl.

When he pulled up the website, it showed their Jane Doe scantily clad, and it listed all the things she was willing to do. Johnny pointed to the bottom of the screen.

"See? Role playing. The trophy wife and the intruder was one of our go-tos. How do you even know about this? Did you talk to Tess?"

Tess. She could be the girl from the vision.

"Who's Tess?"

"Her friend."

Johnny clicked on a link that said "Double the fun" and a picture of two women appeared on the screen, Tatiana and the woman from Lia's vision.

"Have they worked together a lot?"

"I don't know. I only doubled the fun once on my birthday."

"You have an address for her?"

"It's not like I sent her a Christmas card."

While Clive peppered Johnny with more questions, Lia looked around his office, stopping to stare at a bowl filled with red cinnamon disks. She used to hate the candy, but now she was drawn to them, looking to make sure no one else was paying attention before dumping the entire bowl into her purse.

Once Clive had all the information he could possibly get from Johnny, the three of them headed back to the police station. Clive went straight to his desk to do some investigating, but Lia decided to take Liv back to the morgue.

"Tell Ravi thanks again for that omelet. It was delicious."

"I will. Thanks for putting on a good show about this psychic thing."

"You're welcome, Cleo."

With a kiss on the forehead and a quick hug, Lia left Liv and headed back to work.

She definitely wanted a talk with this Tess girl. 

The next morning, Lia walked into the station, eager to begin her day. She sat down at her desk, going through her notes about Tatiana and Tess. She wanted to word her questions carefully so that Tess would be more cooperative. Striking the right tone was crucial when talking to suspects and witnesses.

"Moore! I haven't seen you around lately."

Lia tensed immediately. Unfortunately, Clive wasn't there yet, so she'd have to handle this on her own.

"Well, I've been busy with this case. You understand."

Pratt leaned over her, and she clenched her jaw shut in an attempt to keep herself from mouthing off to him.

"You can always just give me the case and then you'll have more time to spend doing other things...like going to see a movie with me."

It was always the same with him. No matter how often she refused, he still tried the same tactics. Wasn't that the definition of insanity? Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results?

"As much as I appreciate the offer, I really want to get some justice for this girl. The man who did this to her deserves to rot. In hell and in prison."

Pratt rolled his eyes at her, but thankfully moved away from the desk.

"Some other time, then. You know, Moore? One of these days you're gonna be the one begging _me_ to go out with you."

"Well, you'll just have to hold your breath until then, Pratt."

As she spoke, Clive walked into the station, with Liv in tow. Lia jumped up from her desk and rushed over to them.

"What's going on? Why is Liv here?"

"We're going to see Tess."

"We?"

"Yes. Your sister was very useful yesterday, so I asked her to do her 'voodoo' or whatever it is she does."

"We can't just use good, old-fashioned police interrogation?"

Clive grinned, and motioned for Lia to follow him.

"Where's the fun in that?"

When they arrived at Tess's apartment, Clive filled Liv in on some of the details they'd uncovered.

"This Tess girl also has a clean record. I mean, that's two girls who come up on the first page of an internet search for Seattle escorts and not an arrest between them."

"Well maybe cops should google more."

Lia glared at Liv's sarcasm, and her pointed dig at Clive. She knew that Liv really didn't want to be there, but she wasn't sure why.

"See? That's what I'm talking about. That whole 'whatever' vibe? I mean, what's with that?"

"Why are you so concerned with my vibe?"

"I find it perplexing."

"I'm standing in a hallway waiting to smell a call girl. This is vibe appropriate."

Lia's eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"You're waiting to do _what?"_

"Ask Clive."

The door opened, interrupting their conversation.

Tess was wearing a purple silk robe and she seductively turned toward Clive, who responded with a quiet "Ma'am." She then turned and noticed Liv and Lia standing in the hallway.

"It costs triple for three."

Clive and Lia held up badges, and Tess changed her tune.

"Sorry, no English. _Like most Americans you speak only one language. It's a sad commentary on your public school system."_

Lia was startled when she realized that she could understand what the woman was saying, even though she was clearly not speaking English anymore.

" _And what are they teaching in Bucharest? The Porn Star Experience? What the hell?"_

Lia, Tess, and Clive stared in slack-jawed amazement at Liv's words. Clive was the first to speak.

"What is that, Russian?"

"Romanian. Romanian mean girl. What do you want, cop? I'm busy."

Tess blocked the doorway with her body, clearly indicating that she wanted them to leave.

"Well, I know for a fact that you have the next hour free. I booked your time."

The door behind them opened, and a tall man with a beanie on his head appeared in the doorway.

"Everything okay, Tess? They hassling you? She has rights."

"It's okay, Truman. Go back inside."

After Truman went back into his apartment, Clive turned back to Tess.

"We're here to ask about a business associate of yours, Tatiana."

Tess scoffed. "Tatiana. What has she done this time, huh?"

Lia cleared her throat and answered.

"I'm sorry to be the one to tell you this but, Tatiana is dead. She was murdered."

Tess's face dropped, and she looked equal parts heartbroken and frightened.

"When was the last time you saw her?"

"I...I don't know anything."

Tess hurried back into her apartment and slammed the door.

"Miss. We could really use your help. Did you work with her the night of the 16th? We don't even have a full name for Tatiana, Tess."

As Clive spoke against the door, Tess's sobs could be heard behind it. Lia wasn't sure how much cooperating the girl would do.

"Her family needs to be notified. Is that her real name?"

For a moment, the sobbing stopped. Tess's voice drifted out into the hallway, and the three of them look at each other.

"Tatiana Korzha." 

Thanks to her contact at the DMV, they were able to discover Tatiana's address. She lived in an expensive apartment, and Clive joked about being able to live there if he slept with a bunch of people, too. They spoke with her landlord who agreed to let them into the apartment. He led them inside the sprawling, open space.

"I know what she was, but she always paid her rent on time."

He stopped as he surveyed the room, which was trashed, with clothes and objects thrown around.

"Oh, my!"

"Thank you. We'll take it from here."

The landlord only too happily left the detectives and the psychic, eager to get as far away from the crime scene as possible. Clive and Lia took out their rubber gloves, and Lia handed an extra pair to Liv.

"Do whatever you do. Just try not to move things around too much."

Lia began lifting up various articles of clothing from the couch, trying to put the pieces of the puzzle together. She found a bright red tank top made of silk. She carefully slid the shirt into her purse, unaware of why she was doing it.

"Whoever ransacked this place left Tatiana's purse."

"They were looking for something, not trying to steal something. Look. Her stereo and TV are still here."

Clive nodded at Lia's suggestion.

"You're right. It wasn't a robbery."

Liv, who had been digging in Tatiana's purse, held up a red object she'd found.

"Here's her phone. Tess called her the day she died. The 16th, right?"

Lia's head snapped up. The phone call Tatiana had ignored.

Clive played the voicemail, and Lia caught a few of the words.

Klepto. Suite. We. Work.

He handed the phone to Liv.

"It's for you."

"Hey, you little klepto. Get your ass back up to the suite or we are never gonna work with you again."

"We? There was another girl there that night."

"It sounds like Tatiana stole something."

Looking around, it made sense. Tatiana was a kleptomaniac. Which would explain why both Moore girls were suddenly fascinated with stealing things that were red.

As they continued searching the apartment, Lia looked over as Liv froze, looking out the window. She was having another vision.

"Clive!"

Lia's shout made Clive turn around and walk toward Liv, who was gasping for breath.

"Hey, you okay?"

"I just saw her die."

Lia sucked in a breath, knowing how horrible those kinds of visions were. She hated them.

"We need to find who did this and nail his ass to the wall."

Lia and Clive nodded at Liv, whose anger was radiating off of her.

"We should go back to Tess and find out who the other girl is."

Liv and Clive agreed with Lia's suggestion, and they walked back to the squad car, eager to talk to Tess again.

As they stood outside her apartment, Lia was beginning to wonder if Tess was ignoring them or if she simply wasn't home. Truman opened his door, and shook his head at them.

"She's gone. Whatever you told her sent her running. It's her body, you know."

"Did she say where she was going?"

"Like I'm gonna tell you."

Liv snarled at Truman, startling Truman, Lia, and Clive. She poked at his chest, moving toward him as he walked away.

"Hey! Karl Marx! There is one girl dead already. We're trying to stop that number from going up."

Truman's face fell, and his mouth hung open.

"Oh, God. Uh...Tess didn't say where she was going. She had a couple of suitcases, and she asked me to pick up her mail. Um...Sorry about the other girl."

He paused for a moment before thinking of something.

"Wait. It wasn't Monica was it?"

"Monica?"

"A friend of Tess'. She came around here a lot."

"They work together?"

"I hope not. She seemed like a kid to me. I never thought of her in that way."

Liv pulled up Tatiana's page and clicked on the link that listed her friends. A girl named Monica was listed. She showed the phone to Truman.

"Monica's listed under Tatiana's other friends. Is this her?"

Truman nodded and pointed.

"Yeah."

Instead of thanking him, Liv just bolted down the hallway, away from Truman. Clive and Lia rushed to keep up with her.

"Yo! Dirty Debbie Harry! Slow your roll."

Lia shook her head at Clive's name for Liv, but was glad that Liv stopped to answer him. There were times when she wished she knew what was going on inside her sister's head, and right now was one of them. Liv was on a mission, and Lia needed to make sure she didn't get herself hurt.

"I'm supposed to be at work, and I'm afraid I'm gonna find this Monica girl waiting in a drawer for me. We gotta do something."

"What happened to 'Do with it what you will'? Where's that girl?"

"When Tatiana was falling to her death, I could feel it. She knew she was gonna die. It's personal now."

"Okay. We're gonna find her."

"It's okay, Livvie. We would've heard if a new body had turned up. I'll track down her address. You think your boss will let you come with me?"

For the first time that day, Liv smiled.

"I have very little doubt about that."

While Liv went to tell Ravi about the case and "ask" for permission to visit Monica, Clive and Lia went back to the station to uncover Monica's address. When Lia sat down, she happened to look over into Suzuki's office. He was talking to Pratt. Ugh. Pratt glanced up at her, catching her eye and smiling maliciously. Lia jerked her eyes back to her screen and shuddered slightly. There was nothing like a few phone calls to get her mind off of Pratt.

After about a half an hour and more than a few dead ends, Clive finally muttered two words that were music to Lia's ears.

"Got it. You ready to roll, partner?"

"Yeah. I'll go grab Liv and we'll meet at the car."

When Lia reached the morgue, Liv had a strange gleam in her eyes.

"Ravi wants to work on a cure. That's what all the tests are for. I have to go talk to Major."

Before Lia could stop her, Liv rushed out of the room, leaving Lia and Ravi staring at each other.

"A cure? You really think you can make one?"

Ravi cleared his throat and pulled at his shirt collar.

"Well, it could take years, and more than one trial, but, yes. I know that you and Liv don't want to stay like this forever. I'll do what I can to help you."

Without fully understanding why, Lia pulled Ravi into a deep hug. He seemed flustered at first, but soon wrapped his arms around her, squeezing her gently. As quickly as it began, Lia yanked herself away, embarrassed at her brazenness. She cleared her throat and sent Clive an apology text before offering her arm to Ravi.

"Let's get started, shall we?" 

Lia walked into work with a new spring in her step. She might actually be able to live again. She wouldn't have to be afraid of letting anyone get close to her. She smiled at Clive, who wrinkled his brows in confusion.

"So, first your sister bails on me, saying that she has somewhere to be, and then you send me a text message about having to go to the doctor for some tests. Are all you Moore women so flaky?"

"Well, if you must know, I had to get some blood work done. I haven't been feeling well lately, and I just wanted to get checked out just in case it turns into something worse."

He studied her carefully before responding.

"You aren't pregnant or anything are you? Because you could tell me."

Lia didn't try to hold back her laughter. She tried to picture herself pregnant, but the image alone brought her to tears.

"Did I say something funny?"

"Yeah, in order to be pregnant, Clive, I'd actually have to meet someone first. It's not that easy to meet anyone as a female cop. And I'm sure you've heard the office rumors about what a frosty bitch I am."

Clive pursed his lips, avoiding looking Lia directly in the eye.

"I don't recall anyone using those exact words...but fair point."

"Don't worry about me Clive. I'll be fine. Now, what happened with Monica?"

"She wasn't there. She took off running too. But I have a few leads I'm working on. She just logged onto her online class."

"Babineaux! Moore!"

Suzuki's voice drifted from his office and Lia and Clive shot startled looks at each other before heading for the doorway.

"You wanted to see us, lieutenant?"

"Pratt here has a CI who's got a lead on the dead girl. He's gonna run the case from here on out."

"What?"

Lia couldn't believe what he was saying. She and Clive had worked their tails off on this case. They were so close to solving it. And Suzuki was just _giving_ it to Pratt? It was bullshit, and Lia was pissed.

"But, we're so close, sir. The killer was one of Tatiana's johns. The john's ring was stolen, and he killed her trying to get it back. Only she didn't have it. I've got a witness that says one of them got out of Dodge with a suitcase, and it looks like the other one left with her dog."

"Three call girls? Who are we looking for, Superman? Ron Jeremy?"

Pratt's disgusting interjection made Lia's blood boil. He was laughing at a murderer. And he seemed almost proud of this guy for using these women.

Clive was frustrated, too. He was almost begging as he explained to Suzuki how close they were.

"I've got leads on the girls. One of them is enrolled at one of those online colleges. She logged into her economics class an hour ago. I've got an IP address. The nerds in computer forensics are working on a location for me. Sir, we need to find there girls before the killer does."

Suzuki shrugged, brushing off Clive's insistence.

"Well, maybe Pratt will let you tag along if that address amounts to anything."

Lia gave a frustrated sigh and stormed out of the office. She needed to get her emotions in check. She was letting this case get the better of them. As she flung herself into her desk chair, she heard Pratt call Clive's name.

"I'm sorry about that, man. Low guy on the totem pole always gets boned, right? But hey, it'll make it that much sweeter when you bag your first collar, right?"

Clive didn't say anything, and Pratt cleared his throat before continuing.

"Look, do me a favor. Follow up on some of your interviews. Talk to the weatherman. Have another conversation with Tess' neighbor. Please, I appreciate it."

"Mmm...All right."

Lia glared at Clive for agreeing to help Pratt. Lia wanted to punch Pratt for meddling in their case. She wondered if he'd asked Suzuki if he could take over to try and force Lia into spending time with him.

Clive sighed and dropped into his chair, groaning as it sunk again.

Lia couldn't even muster up a smile as she motioned for Clive to stand and grabbed the screwdriver.

"I'm sorry, Lia. I tried to convince him."

"You did everything you could. Pratt just talked him into it. He's used to getting his way."

"But not with you."

"Maybe that's part of the problem. If I'd agreed to go out with him, he probably would have left our case alone."

Clive knelt down beside Lia, making sure she was looking at him.

"Listen. You don't have to date anyone you don't want to. I think it's bigger than just that. Suzuki wanted us to fail. For whatever reason, he has it out for us. So now we just keep on working until we crack this one. Before that asshole Pratt does."

Lia nodded and placed Clive's chair back on its wheels.

They decided to split the work evenly. Clive was going to meet with Johnny Frost, while Lia was going to speak to Truman again. Truman turned out to be a dead end, claiming that he didn't know anything about the johns who came to visit Tess. She got a text from Clive, asking her to meet him at the morgue.

When she arrived, Ravi and Clive were talking.

"Hi, guys. Clive, did you get anything?"

"Yeah, I'm just waiting for Liv. I need a translator."

Lia shot an annoyed look at Ravi, who shrugged. She had two options. One, tell Clive she spoke Romanian and then have to explain how she knew it. Two, wait for Liv to show up and pretend like she knew nothing about visions or Romanian dialect. Thankfully, Liv arrived before she'd even made up her mind about what to do.

"Hey. Just looking for you."

"Yeah, I'm sure you're incredibly busy, but..."

"No, I'm not. I'm back on the case. What do you need?"

Ravi smirked at Liv as he took a sip of his tea, and Lia wondered for the second time if he didn't have some kind of feelings for Liv.

"Johnny Frost said Tatiana had a babbos daypork. Or deerpork, something like that."

Lia wrinkled her nose, trying to figure out what Clive was saying.

"You mean _barbos de porc?_ "

"Oh, okay."

"It means 'bearded pig'. Tatiana had a bearded pig. You sure you're saying that right?"

Of course. A bearded pig! Pratt.

"It's Pratt. That's why he wanted us off the case, Clive. He didn't have a CI. He knew we were getting close."

"Son of a bitch. That's why none of the girls have a record."

"Wait. Is Pratt the detective who sits one desk over from you?"

"Yeah. Unfortunately."

"He knows where the girls are. He has the address. He wrote it down on a notepad."

Lia and Clive both bolted for the door, practically running each other over. When she reached the notepad, Lia took a pencil and lightly rubbed it back and forth, beaming when the address appeared on the pad.

"Damn! That really works." 

Lia chewed on her lip the entire drive over to the house. Confronting Pratt was going to be difficult. She was less worried about her own safety, however. She turned around to Liv and glared at her, trying to look intimidating.

"Stay here."

"What else am I gonna do? Subdue him with a good verbal flogging?"

"She's just saying. Don't get intrepid."

Clive and Lia climbed out of the car and carefully made their way to the house. Clive motioned for Lia to take the back door, while Clive would watch the front.

As she inched closer to the door, Lia heard voices.

"Tatiana was always stealing things, she couldn't help it!"

"Yes, you told me that. But she didn't have it. I saw the look in her eye. WHERE IS MY RING?"

"I pawned it!"

The new voice that Lia heard must have been Monica's.

"I needed the money for school, and I knew Tatiana would take the blame because she steals things."

"You do see how this is your fault? I am not gonna live in a one-room apartment while my wife gets half my salary! You killed Tatiana! You did! I didn't want this!"

Pratt must have heard Clive moving, because Lia heard gunshots coming from the front of the house. She burst through the back door, quickly moving to where she'd heard the gunshots.

She heard the girls say that he'd run upstairs, and she darted up the back stairwell. She carefully searched room by room, hearing doors opening across the house. She heard wheels moving on the ground and quickly ran to the window, seeing a scaffolding being pushed against it. Pratt.

Lia moved the scaffolding and crawled out of the window, watching Pratt run for his car. She heard Liv start the engine and she prayed that her sister wouldn't do anything too stupid. She watched as Liv blocked Pratt's car, and Pratt jumped out, angrily shouting.

"Get out of the car, get out of the car or I'll shoot you."

Pratt shot through the glass and Lia heard her sister yelp.

"LIV!"

Her heart was racing, and her blood was boiling. As Pratt pulled Liv's body out of the car and sped away, Lia bolted after him, easily keeping pace with the car. Lia heard someone behind her and almost stopped running as she saw her sister. Lia and Liv jumped on top of the car and bashed the windshield in. Liv grabbed a hold of the wheel as Pratt tried shooting at them and turned the car into a tree. Both Moore sisters tumbled into the woods, completely unharmed.

Lia was so relieved to see Liv wasn't hurt. She gasped slightly as Liv turned to look at her. Just like the people at the party, Liv's eyes were red, and her veins were a deep purple color on her forehead. She didn't say anything to Lia, but instead walked over to where Pratt was, snarling as she reached for his head.

Clive's voice cut through the night, breaking Liv out of her stupor.

"I saw you get shot."

"He missed. I played dead and then I just chased after his car. Adrenaline is no joke. Too intrepid?"

"Way too intrepid. And you!"

He turned to Lia, who tried to look innocent.

"Who the hell are you, Usain Bolt?"

"I saw him shoot my sister. Hell itself couldn't hold me back."

Clive shook his head at the two of them, but didn't ask any further questions.

"Tess and Monica?"

"Yeah, they're okay."

He sighed before looking at his car.

"Why is there a bullet hole in the roof of my car?"

"Maybe he was celebrating drunk cowboy style. I don't know. Literally, I got here like two seconds before you did."

Clive turned to Lia.

"He was just randomly shooting, hoping that he'd hit me."

Clive turned back to Liv, much to Lia's relief.

"He was about to kill them. We got here just in time. Thanks to you."

"And you. I mean, you drove. Seriously, how did you solve crime before me? I feel like I'm kind of vital to this whole operation."

"Hey! I take offense to that."

Liv tried to placate her older sister.

"I didn't mean you. I meant Clive. Now, do you want me to check him out? I am a doctor."

"You two go see to the girls. I got this."

Clive seemed all too happy to put cuffs on Pratt. Not that Lia could blame him. She wanted give him a good kick in the balls, too. But she doubted that Clive would let her.

She and Liv walked closer to the house and Liv stopped, looking at her chest. She'd been shot, right through the heart. Thankfully Pratt couldn't kill someone who was already dead.

"Livvy, I'm so glad you're okay. But what happened to you back there? You went full on...zombie."

"I think when I got mad at him for shooting me, it triggered the zombie rage. But why didn't you go full-on zombie?"

"I think I might have. But I calmed down as soon as I saw you were okay."

She hugged her little sister, glad that, at least this time, their zombie curse had come in handy.

Author's Note:

First of all, let me say, I'm so so sorry it's taken me this long to get another chapter published. We had someone quit at work, and her replacement has been taking forever to train, so I've been working super long hours at my main job and my second job (way to be an entitled lazy millennial, right?) Thank you all for the love and support I've received! It means the world to me! I have BIG plans for Lia, and I hope you'll all be reading when I get there!


	4. An Artist In Love

Chapter 3: An Artist in Love

The steady beat of tennis shoes hitting the sidewalk was nothing more than added bass to Lia's music.

She ran, feeling all at once thankful that she wouldn't be sore for the rest of the day thanks to her body's lack of, well, life.

The fog was especially thick in Seattle this morning, and Lia cut through it like a knife. She ran her usual route, but this morning was a little different.

She'd promised Ravi that she'd stop by the morgue afterward so that he could run more tests on her. Normally, Lia would have run in the opposite direction upon a doctor asking her to come in for "tests," but Ravi was a rare exception. He was Lia's one and only chance for a life again.

Lia thought about it for a moment before chuckling.

She really hadn't had much of a life before she died, but now that hers had been taken away, it was becoming painfully clear that she hadn't appreciated the life she'd had when she'd had it.

She'd always told herself that she would meet someone, fall in love, have a few kids, and grow old together…at some point. Now? That point would never come. Unless Ravi came through for her, that is.

As she neared the end of her run, Lia pulled out her phone to text Ravi and let him know she was on her way.

As she distractedly typed into her phone, Lia was unaware that she was rapidly approaching someone. She didn't even have time to hit the "send" button before she slammed into the person, sending her phone flying, and both people to the ground.

She swore, thankful that she didn't really feel any pain, and heard an angry male voice spitting furious words at her.

"Why don't you watch where you're go...ing."

He paused as their eyes met. Lia blinked rapidly, studying the man in front of her carefully, well aware that he was doing the same to her.

He was handsome, she'd give him that.

He had thick black hair that had a boyish tuft which fell into his dark blue eyes. He shook his head, and sent a hand through his hair as a nervous gesture, mussing it up.

He cleared his throat awkwardly, and moved to stand up, offering Lia his hand.

"Sorry for that. I wasn't expecting to be knocked over so early in the morning."

Lia graciously accepted his hand and allowed him to help her to her feet.

"No, I should be the one apologizing. I didn't even see you through all this fog. I didn't even think anyone would be out this early."

"Well, I wanted to get a jog in before work."

He glanced at her before quipping, "And I see you had the same idea. I'm Micah, by the way. Micah Owens."

"Lia Moore."

"So, you're a Marine, too."

For a moment, Lia was caught off guard, surprised that he'd been able to guess that about her. Her face must have conveyed her shock, because Micah chucked before pointing to her left shoulder.

"Your tattoo gave you away."

Lia looked at her shoulder, catching a glimpse of the Eagle, Globe, and Anchor emblem. Normally, Lia wore shirts that covered her shoulders. But her workout tank-top didn't quite cover it. Not that Lia was ashamed of her service, but rather there was too much judgement against people who had tattoos. Especially at the academy. She glanced back at Micah, who seemed oddly pleased with himself for surprising her.

"So, where are you headed this fine foggy Friday?"

Lia had absolutely no intention of telling this total stranger where she was going, especially when he had already annoyed her.

"Work. I was almost done with my route when I ran into you."

"Where do you work?"

She crossed her arms, uncomfortable with how much attention he was giving her. She'd apologized already. Why was he still hanging around?

"Not that it's any of your business, but I'm a cop."

There, she thought, that should get rid of him. Most of her dates were terrified when she told them she was a cop. One man even confessed every minor crime he'd ever committed, including the time he accidentally stole pebbles from a pet store when he was six because he thought they were "pretty."

But Micah wouldn't give in so easily.

"Wow. A Marine _and_ a cop. You're one tough broad. I'm lucky I escaped with my life after you ran me down."

Lia puckered her lips at his exaggeration. Just what game was he trying to play here?

"Well listen, I know you're almost done with your run, but maybe I can run with you to the police station. You know, to keep you safe from all the weirdos on the street."

"You mean like you?"

Lia couldn't help herself. As soon as she'd sent the barb, Micah placed a hand on his chest and feigned pain.

"She wounds me with her words. Okay, fine. I'll go with you in order to keep the citizens of Seattle safe. You don't wanna get accused of police brutality for knocking another innocent person to the ground."

Despite herself, Lia laughed. Micah grinned at her, and she noticed once again how handsome he was. She supposed that letting him tag along wouldn't hurt anything. Besides, despite his muscular appearance, she was sure that her zombie strength would render him less hazardous than a kitten.

She rolled her eyes and sighed in a dramatic way to prove that she really wasn't enthusiastic about him tagging along before she responded.

"Fine. You can follow me if you think you can keep up with my pace."

He winked and flashed her another view of his stunning smile before bending over to pick up her cell phone.

"I believe this is yours, milady?"

He gave an over-exaggerated bow and held her phone out to her, while she snatched it from his as quickly as she could. She shook her head again at his antics, annoyed that he seemed to be flirting with her. Before she'd turned into a zombie, she could give as good as she got. Now, it just seemed pointless. Liv had to give up the love of her life rather than infect him with zombieism. Lia could live without the pain.

Instead of saying anything, Lia returned her phone to her pocket and began to jog toward the station. She was almost disappointed to hear a second set of footsteps catch up to her.

"So, tell me, if I robbed a bank, would I get to see you again after this?"

She almost jerked to a stop, but forced herself to keep her pace. She'd already messed up the results of this morning's run, and she didn't want to jeopardize what little data Ravi could glean from her tests. Lia narrowed her eyes and glared at Micah, unsure of how to interpret his remark.

"Um, no. I work in homicide. If you plan on killing someone just to creepily ask me out, I've got a spare pair of cuffs in my bag and I can just have you admitted to the psych ward."

Micah gulped, realizing that his attempt had fallen flat.

"That's okay. I think I'm good."

Lia almost smirked, his discomfort was so palpable. He nervously ran his hand through his hair again, leaving a tuft sticking out on the back of his neck. This tiny little imperfection annoyed Lia.

She turned away from him, hoping that he'd finally gotten the hint.

"Look, I'm sorry if I've offended you. I was only trying to tease you. If I'm coming on a little too strong, it's only because I've never met a woman who's swept me off of my feet like you have."

Lia wrinkled her brow and frowned. Swept him off of his feet? What did he mean by saying that? Before she could question him, he began to laugh. She glared, annoyed at his ever-changing moods.

"Sorry, that was a bad pun. You're more serious than I thought. Hasn't anyone ever told you that it's okay to smile every once in awhile?"

"Maybe I just don't find you funny."

Lia didn't try to hold back her annoyance. Her life was effectively over. What reason did she have to smile?

"I guess I'll have to work on my jokes, then. I do apologize again for offending you."  
"How about instead of apologizing you try not offending me in the first place?"

"Touche. I will work on that."

As they approached the station, Lia slowed to a halt.

"Good luck. I hope the next girl who sweeps you off of your feet smiles a little more than I do."

He held out a tentative hand and Lia reluctantly gave him hers. He slowly brought it to his lips, surprising both of them.  
"I hope I see you again, Detective Moore. And I hope you find a reason to smile again."

With that, he dropped her hand and continued his run, never looking back at Lia, who stood numbly staring at his retreating back.

She shook off her stupor and headed toward the morgue.

"All set, Detective Moore. I think these tests will prove most beneficial to my research, so for that you have my thanks."

Ravi began to remove the various pieces of equipment that he'd strapped on Lia's arms, head, chest, legs, and other appendages. Lia sat patiently, not sure if she should help him, or just sit there and attempt not to mess anything up. She chose the latter.

After Ravi had removed the last piece, Lia hopped down from the examination table, thankful that she'd watched Liv scour the thing with every possible sanitizer imaginable. No ounce of body fluid missed her germaphobic eyes.

Lia gathered her things and watched as Ravi uploaded the data he'd collected from her. He was smiling at the screen, and Lia felt a surge of hope swell in her. If Ravi found a cure...well, there was no sense in dwelling on things that might not happen.

Lia waved goodbye to Ravi and marched up the stairs to the station. She was thankful that, even though she was one of the only women there, they had installed a shower in the ladies bathroom as a way to promote their efforts in "gender equality." So far, the shower was one of the only things they had going for them. Lia was the other.

After freshening up and getting dressed, Lia felt ready to face the day.

Thing were just wrapping up with their last case, and Lia had just finished filing the evidence away when Suzuki called for her.

She gulped and sent Clive a panicked look before heading into his office. He motioned for her to close the door and she felt her anxiety rise to a cresting wave. After closing the door, she quickly sat down in the seat in front of his desk.

"You did a nice job on the last case, Moore. Both you and Babineaux. There's not many people that would see past friendships to suspect a fellow officer."

"Pratt was never a friend, sir. He was a pig, and he deserves whatever he gets."

Suzuki's eyebrows rose at her bluntness, but he didn't seem too surprised that Lia wasn't fond of him.

"Still, you did this station proud the way you handled it."

Lia almost smiled at the praise. She'd never really gotten it before, but she knew Suzuki too well to expect him not to have something else to say.

"However, this does not mean that you and Babineaux are off the hook. I'm not completely sold on him joining our department. I'll be keeping a close eye on the both of you."  
"Both of us, sir?"

"A cop is only as good as his partner. If your team can't handle the cases you get, then we have no need for you. Is that understood?"

Lia nodded, surprised at the sudden animosity coming from Suzuki. She stood to leave, unwilling to stay in his presence for much longer.

"Is that all, sir?"

"Yes, you can go."

Lia practically ran out of the office, trying to control her anger. The last thing she needed was to go "full-on zombie mode," as Liv called it. She'd never understood Suzuki's treatment of her, especially since she was one of the best cops he had. And now he was punishing Clive as well.

Clive took one look at her expression and grimaced.

"So, that went well I take it?"

Lia shot him an icy glare and threw herself into her chair. She had to resist the urge to cross her arms and spin the chair in the opposite direction of Suzuki's office.

Clive walked around the desk and stood next to her chair, slowly sipping from his coffee cup.

"What did he say, Lia?"

"Oh, not much. Just that he's 'keeping an eye' on us. If we can't handle our cases, then the station has no need for us, blah, blah, blah. It's hard to remember specifics about what he said, because the blood was rushing through my ears."

Clive took another sip of his coffee, but didn't say anything.

"Say, something. You aren't upset about this?"

"Not really. I kinda expected it."

Lia wrinkled her brow in confusion and tilted her head at Clive.

"What?"

"I'm not surprised. Look, Lia. I transferred from another department. One I was not too popular in, I might add. It's only natural that Suzuki would try to edge me out somehow. And you...are in a man's club. You've upset the status quo."

Lia glared at Clive, even though she knew he was right. When they'd announced that a woman was joining the department, she'd seen enough dirty looks to last her a lifetime. Though, some of the men were excited at the prospect of flirting with her, that excitement soon died when they realized they weren't going to get anywhere with her.

"I'm tempted to go in there and just quit if this is how he's going to treat us."

"Now, don't do something stupid in anger. You know as well as I do that the best revenge we can get on him is a job well done. So when our next case comes in, we can show him what we're made of."

He was right again. It almost annoyed Lia how rational Clive could be. But she liked him. Though she wasn't sure how she felt about having a partner before, she was glad she'd gotten Clive.

"All right, partner. Let's get back to work."

Lia was almost ready to head home for the evening when they got the call from dispatch. A famous artist had been murdered. Lia didn't know very much about art, but she happened to know the artist who'd been killed. Her college roommate had been a fan of his. Lia had rolled her eyes whenever she'd go on for hours about the "expressive and passionate nature" of the paintings. She'd never expected to see Javier Abano's paintings up close and personal.

As soon as she and Clive walked into the loft, Lia was overwhelmed by the sheer number of paintings. The entire space was covered in canvases of all shapes and sizes, colors and textures. Lia noticed that many of the paintings were of nude women.

A long-haired woman was sobbing, being held by a tall, shaggy haired man. The dispatchers had noted that the body was found by the victim's wife and his art dealer. That must be them. Lia and Clive walked over to the woman and man and introduced themselves. This was the part she hated the most about her job. Interrogating witnesses who were crying. Asking if the victim had any known enemies. Asking about alibis. As if the distraught person hadn't been through enough just finding the body of someone that they loved.

Or hated. One could never be sure if the tears were genuine or not. That's where the investigation came into play.

After they'd asked what seemed like an endless stream of questions, Lia glanced behind her and noticed a white-blond head kneeling near the body. Though they'd worked together on many cases before, it was still strange for Lia to see her little sister at work. She excused herself from the questioning and walked over to where Ravi and Lia were examining the body.

"...I'm a bit of an arse man."

Ravi paused and flushed, noticing Lia had joined the conversation.

"Overshare, right?"

"I see that I've walked in on the wrong part of this conversation. I can leave if you want me to. I'll just walk backwards."

Lia smirked as she teased Ravi, pleased to see that he grew more embarrassed by it.

"Sorry, Detective. We were just talking about the paintings."

"Yes. They're...different, aren't they?"

Lia paused to look at the painting nearest the body. It was on an easel, and the paint still looked wet. It was a simple painting, as far as Javier was concerned. Black paint was smeared across a white canvas. Lia looked at it closely. It reminded her of something. But what?

"Got anything for me?"

Clive's voice cut through Lia's reverie.

"Well," Ravi began, turning to look at Clive. "Based on the stiffness of the jaw and neck, I'd put time of death between 6:00 and 7:00 p.m. No defense wounds, no physical signs of struggle. It's a straight shot from the orbital cavity to the carotid artery, so death was likely instantaneous. Like pushing an off button. Well, stabbing an off button that's located behind someone's eye using the handle of a paintbrush. I'll know more when I get him back to the morgue."

"It seems like you've already narrowed a few things down for us. No signs of struggle or defensive wounds? He knew the person who killed him. Thanks, Ravi."

Ravi smiled brightly at Lia as she praised him, and she returned it. Clive turned to Liv.

"And what about you? Anything you'd like to share? Is the crime scene inspiring, you know, any otherworldly communications or conjurings or what have you?"  
"Wow, you're really a flip to the last page of a book type guy, huh? You've been detecting for five minutes."

"Oh, I know who did it. It's the wife."

"You think it was that sobbing woman crumbling to pieces on the patio?"

"She has an alibi, but it's always the wife."

"Or the husband, if the wife dies," Lia cut in.

Clive nodded, then continued.

"I was just hoping something sparked your sixth sense so we can expedite things."

Clive stared at Lia as he spoke, and she knew what he was trying to tell her. If Liv helped them solve the case faster, Suzuki might cut them a little more slack.

"Sorry, no sparking."

Clive sighed, and Lia shrugged. Unfortunately, both Lia and Liv would have to wait until they had something to eat before any visions would be helpful. Ravi cleared his throat and three pairs of eyes turned to stare at him.

"Detectives, we're going to have to remove the paint brush in order to get him in the bag, so…"

He trailed off, but Clive knew where he was going.

"I got it. We'll check back in later."

Clive and Lia walked toward the entrance, but Lia turned to look as Ravi pulled the brush from Javier's eye socket.

And, though it wasn't an appetizing sight in the least, Lia couldn't help but wonder what Liv would be making for lunch.

"Hot pockets? I was all excited for some home-cooked delicacy and you made hot pockets?"

Liv smiled and waved the microwaved pizza pocket in from of Lia's face.

"I ran out of time today. Besides, if you don't want to eat it, I can always just throw it out."

Lia made a face, which Liv laughed at, and snatched the pocket from Liv's hand.

"You added the hot sauce, right?"

"How else could I make it edible?"

As Lia took a bite of the pocket and only tasted the metallic spice that she'd been forced to deal with since she'd died, she sighed both in relief and annoyance.

"I miss real pizza. I could cry."

Liv nodded solemnly.

"But this is awesome, Livvy. Thank you. I do appreciate you making me food, even if it's JUST a hot pocket. Besides, now that I'm dead, I don't have to worry about counting calories."

Ravi popped his head into the room and waved at Lia.

"Hello, Detective! I just finished going through your results. Would you like to see what I've got?"

"I'm not sure I'll understand any of it, but sure!"  
Now that she'd eaten something, Lia could feel her "hanger" going away. She continued nibbling away at the pocket, careful to eat it slowly so that she could savor it more.

Ravi had a screen full of charts and graphs and symbols that Lia had never seen before.

"So, as you can see, your results are very different from Liv's. Your speed while running is incredible. My working theory is that you were a more active person in life, which enabled you to go even faster in your afterlife. Your body responds to stress in an incredible way. You get faster, more agile, and stronger."

"What about 'full-on zombie mode?'"

"I'd wager that those would be multiplied even more. To an astounding degree."

Ravi was practically glowing as he listed all the results, his scientific mind racing at the possibilities.

Lia chewed nervously on her bottom lip, unsure of how to take this news. She and Liv were practically ticking time bombs. If they grew too emotional, who knew how many people they could hurt?

Ravi continued listing off information about what he'd learned, but Lia had stopped listening. After a few moments of sustained silence, Ravi looked at her. He must have asked her a question, but she hadn't a clue what it was.

"I'm sorry, Ravi. I've just got a lot on my mind right now."

"That's fair, Detective. I'll let you be on your way to work."

Lia shook her head to clear the fog of anxious thoughts and walked up the stairs, apologizing to Ravi once more.

She still had Suzuki to worry about.

Lia was practically hyperventilating as she raced up the stairs to the station. She needed to get to Clive-and fast.

It had happened when she'd gotten out of the shower this morning. She'd just managed to wrap the towel around herself when a vision hit her out of nowhere.

It was practically pornography.

A towel-clad woman stepped out of a steamy bathroom shower and carefully stepped toward Javier. A hand waved her toward a chaise surrounded by an easel and paint. She tossed the towel to the ground and Javier praised her "luscious body" in Spanish. As she draped herself across the chaise, Javier picked up the paintbrush and with swift, forceful strokes painted the outline of the woman. He added stroke after stroke of color, and when he was done, he began to remove his belt and pants.

When Lia snapped to attention, she was gasping and sitting on her bathroom floor in a puddle. She shook her head to clear the lustful energy and tried to focus on what she'd witnessed. Javier was having an affair. Hello, motive.

As she entered the station, she noticed Lia standing near Clive's desk. Maybe Liv had a vision, too. As Lia got closer to them, she heard what Liv was saying.

"...it was like watching a flower bloom."

"Very helpful. Thank you."

It was clear from Clive's tone that he was uncomfortable with what Liv was saying. Lia bit her lip nervously. If what Liv saw was anything like her vision, this could get very awkward very quickly.

Clive continued, validating Lia's fears.

"Arching...blooming. Then someone came in that you didn't see, but was probably Lola."

"I didn't say that."

"No. You gave me _Fifty Shades of Psychic_ and no vital details."  
Yup. Liv definitely had a sex vision. As far as visions go, sex visions were the most awkward.

"Look, he was having an affair. His wife caught him. Like I said, it's always the spouse."

Lia took the opportunity to interrupt their conversation and clear the awkwardness.

"I checked with a contact. She can confirm Liv's story. If Lola found out about the affair, it could definitely give us a motive. Why don't we pay her a visit?"

Liv and Clive seemed almost startled that Lia had heard their conversation, but they both gathered their coats, almost glad to have the subject changed. Clive turned to Liv before they left.

"Maybe you'll have another vision. Hopefully one that's less late-night premium cable."

Liv and Lia exchanged glances, and Lia knew that they were both hoping for that.

When they got to Javier and Lola's apartment, they were greeted by Javier's art dealer, Artie. He didn't look pleased to see them, but he welcomed them inside. As he walked them toward the room where Lola was, he explained that Lola was having a hard time with what had happened.

"She's a bit more calm right now, but it's going to be a long road."

As they entered the room, Lola was hugging a tall woman. Artie explained that he was leaving and told Lola to call him if she needed him. As the tall woman turned to face them, Liv visibly started. She turned to Clive and whispered.

"That's sugar flower. From my vision. With the buttery skin."

Lia had no emotion whatsoever to seeing Tasha. She wasn't the woman from her vision. Which meant that Javier was having multiple affairs. She took this information in stride and turned to Liv. Lia heard the lust in Liv's voice and shot her a steely glare. She needed to have better control over her emotions. Lia knew how hard it was to control whatever personality the brain have her, but a passionate brain could be a dangerous thing.

Lia cleared her throat and spoke to Lola.

"We're terribly sorry to intrude, Mrs. Abano. We have a few more questions."

Lola nodded and waved for them to sit on the chairs in the room.

"Of course. And it's Lola, please. And this is my dear friend, Tasha. She's my favorite of all of Javier's lovers."

Tasha and Lola exchanged a tender gaze and Lia shot Clive a startled look, which he returned with his own. If Lola had known about, and accepted the affairs that Javier was having, that took away her motive. Well, back to square one, it seemed.

As everyone sat down and Clive began questioning Lola, Lia was watching her sister.

Liv was entirely focused on Tasha's every move, and she had a strange smile on her face, almost like a cat about to pounce. It was irritating Lia to no end. As the minutes dragged on without Liv breaking her gaze on Tasha, Lia began to plan ways to throw something at Liv without anyone else noticing. As Clive continued his questioning, Lia realized that she should probably be paying more attention to him, and not Liv.

"Oh, Artie and I wound up eating without Javier all the time when he was working. He'd just get lost in his painting, or not want to stop if it was going well. He was at the mercy of his creative flow."

"Sounds like you were at the mercy of it as well."

"I never minded. I just wanted him to feel free to do whatever he needed to do. I respected his process."

"I think you mean _whoever_ he needed to do. Are you saying that the affairs were part of his process?"

If she was surprised to hear Lia put her two cents in, Lola didn't show it. She laughed slightly before responding.

"Asking Javier to sleep with one woman for the rest of his life would be like asking him to paint those little seascapes on the novelty spoons they sell at the pier."

Tasha interrupted with a soft, sultry voice.

"He had a way of, like, discovering people, and then sort of revealing them to themselves."

She looked at Liv, and Liv stared back at her before responding.

"That is really beautiful. Seriously, he sounds amazing."

After she spoke, Tasha grabbed Liv's hand, and Lia held back a groan at the expression on Liv's face.

"The other women were not an issue. I knew who Javier was with and what he was getting out of the relationship. He knew all about my dalliances. Nobody got hurt. It's not like we had children to worry about. Javier never wanted any. His paintings were his babies."

Lia returned her gaze to Lola as she spoke. She'd mentioned Javier's distaste for children, but not her own. Before Lia could question her, Clive interrupted.

"Yeah, right. So, it didn't bother you that his babies were nude paintings of the women he was sleeping with?"

"No. It bothers me that you're being dismissive about my husband's art and our marriage. Monogamy was not important to us. What Javier and I had was beyond the physical."

Clive shook his head as if he was trying to come to terms with what Lola was saying. Though polyamory was not unheard of, it was still a strange practice to encounter while working on a murder case.

"Mrs. Abano, er, Lola, I think my partner is just unfamiliar with a relationship like yours. But since you knew who Javier was sleeping with, perhaps you wouldn't mind giving us their names?"

Lola nodded at Lia and went to grab a pen and some paper. As soon as she'd given them the list of names, Lia and Clive thanked her and began to leave. Lia practically had to drag Liv away from Tasha, and she was none too gentle in the way she grabbed onto Liv's arm.

As they walked out of the apartment, Clive began muttering under his breath.

"I've seen some weird things in my time, but this takes the cake. I don't believe her for a second."

"How is it incriminating to say that she didn't care who he slept with?"

Lia and Clive cast dubious looks at each other. At least they were on the same page.

"Are you kidding? She definitely cared. That's just something she said so that we wouldn't suspect her. Of course, Clive and I might have been paying closer attending than you, Livvy."

Clive nodded before his phone began vibrating. He looked down at his phone and said, "Huh."

"What?"

"An email from Liv's boss. The paintbrush/murder weapon was thrust into Mr. Abano's eye socket at an angle consistent with a right handed killer who was 6'2" or 6'3"."

Liv was practically beaming at what Clive had told her.

"Does that mean Javier had two wives? Because Lola is around my height, right? So, if it's always the spouse, maybe it was wife number two that's the tall one."

At Liv's sarcasm, Clive brushed past her and began walking toward the car.

"Wait!"

Clive paused at Liv's interjection and turned to face her.

"I'm being totally serious now. If you find a pair of foot high stilettos in Lola's closet, can you ask her where she got them?"

Clive rolled his eyes and walked away from her, while Liv laughed softly to herself. Lia walked up to her and grabbed her arm again.

"Let's go, horn-dog."

"Wait, me?"

Lia scoffed at Liv's bewildered expression and crossed her arms.

"Are you kidding? You were practically drooling all over Tasha. And, while I personally don't care who you date, I know that Tasha isn't your type. She's Javier's. You need to learn to control these impulses, Liv."

Liv stuck her bottom lip out in a pout, a technique she used to use whenever Lia was mad at her when they were growing up. But Lia was not about to fall for it this time.

"Nope. That's not going to work on me today, Liv. I'm serious. I know it's not easy to control it, but we have to. The last time we both could have gotten thrown in prison for stealing evidence."

Liv sighed and stared at the ground.

"I know. You're right. But I like feeling passionate. I feel more...alive."

Lia threw her arm around her sister and gave her a gentle squeeze.

"Well, I guess it doesn't make me feel more alive because I didn't have much passion while I was alive. I was already dead inside. So you're going to have to work harder than me at controlling it, okay?"

Liv smiled at Lia's self-deprecating joke and she nodded toward the car where Clive was waiting, probably muttering about how long it was taking them.

"Shall we?"

It was impossible. She couldn't get it out of her mind. The woman's face was so clear. Lia spent most of the night shading and re-drawing every single detail of it. Each time, another piece clicked into place. She'd finally gotten the woman's carefully arched eyebrows done when her phone began to buzz.

As she stared numbly at the screen, she saw that it was already 4 a.m. She stretched and turned off the alarm on her phone, annoyed that she'd wasted so much time on the sketch. She threw on her sweatpants and tied her hair back in a messy ponytail before heading out the door.

It was practically Lia's favorite time of day.

As she grabbed a cart and walked into the grocery store, Lia breathed a sigh of relief. No lines, no aisles being blocked, no kids screaming.

There was something apocalyptic about being in a grocery store at four in the morning. Which, given that Lia was a zombie, had a tinge of irony to it. The store was desolate, with only a handful of employees who, by this point, had gotten used to Lia's unusual routine of shopping so early in the morning. She leisurely strolled through the aisles, checking off the items on her grocery list. As she was reaching for a bottle of blonde hair dye, she heard a strangely familiar voice.

"Hello, detective. I'm surprised to see you here this early."

As Lia turned to face the owner of the voice, she practically groaned before forcing a smile on her face.

"Hello, Mr. Owens."

Micah smiled widely, probably impressed that she'd remembered his name. Lia was annoyed that he'd managed to find her here. The grocery store at 4 a.m. was supposed to be her safe haven from annoying people. And now he'd ruined it.

"Please don't tell me you followed me here. I'm too tired to drag you down to the station for stalking me."

Micah rolled his eyes, annoying Lia more. Did he think she wasn't strong enough to drag him?

"No, detective. I was actually here doing some shopping. I prefer the grocery store when there aren't a bunch of other people around."

Lia raised an eyebrow, surprised at his response. He'd given her the same reason she would have given if asked about her reason for shopping so early. Lia smiled and felt something strange wash over her.

"Well, I'm sorry if I disturbed you, detective. I just wanted to say hello. I need to get back to my shopping. Have a good one."

As he turned to walk away, Lia instinctively grabbed onto his arm, surprising both of them.

"No, it's okay. I normally mind company in the grocery store, but I think I just found something we have in common."

Micah smiled and motioned for Lia to walk with him.

She placed the box of hair dye in her cart and pushed it forward.

"Ah, so you're not a natural blonde, eh? Did you just want to have more fun?"

"Ha ha. I am a natural blonde, but I already have a ton of white hair. I'm not ready to admit I'm getting older."

Normally, Lia was uncomfortable when men stared at her. It usually meant they wanted something from her, and Lia was not willing to give it to them. But when Micah stared at her, Lia felt something strange in her stomach. It was almost a warmth. She wanted him to stare. She stared right back, noticing again how handsome he was. His dark blue eyes were captivating. They were like a stormy night, with streaks of white like lightning. He cleared his throat nervously and the electricity stopped.

"Well, detective, if it makes you feel any better, I'm having some issues with gray hair myself. I think it's our generation, unfortunately. We millennials have too many things to worry about. Like where to find affordable avocado toast. It's a shame, really."

Lia laughed, and, for the first time in a long time, it was genuine.

As they shopped, Lia and Micah continued talking. Lia was actually enjoying herself, and was sad to see the end of her list. Micah wasn't so bad, after all. Perhaps a tad socially awkward, but Lia was a zombie, so who was she to judge him?

After paying for her groceries, Lia paused to wait for Micah to be rung out. Normally, she would have raced to her car and gotten home before the morning traffic began to start, but this time something held her back.

As Micah finished paying, they walked to the parking lot together. Since Micah had parked next to her, he helped her put her groceries into her car, and she helped him with his. After closing his trunk, Micah cleared his throat awkwardly.

Neither one of them made a movement to leave, and they stared at each other for what felt like hours before Lia spoke.

"Well, I really should get going."

"Yeah. I guess you're right."

Lia held out her hand, but Micah leaned in toward her.

"Detective, may I see you again? Outside of the grocery store perhaps?"

Lia felt a rush of passion overtake her, and, instead of responding to his question, she crashed her lips onto his. She wrapped her arms around him, and though he was surprised at her response, he responded in kind.

Lia was amazed at how soft and warm his lips were, and as their tongues danced together, she was amazed at the reaction that her body was going through. Her heart was racing, her breath was quickening, and she longed to be even closer to him.

After a few heated moments, Lia pulled away from him. They were both breathing heavily and gazing lustfully at each other.

Lia shook her head a few times to clear it, and tore off a piece of her grocery list. She hastily wrote her number on it and handed it to Micah.

"Call me."

With those two simple words, Lia marched to the other side of her car and forced herself inside. As she began to drive away, she heard Micah's response.

"Is that a yes?"

Stupid, stupid, stupid. Lia kept repeating the words to herself, but they only served to make her feel worse. She'd given Liv a lecture about controlling her emotions, and then hadn't taken her own advice. Not only had she given Micah false hope, but she'd practically thrown herself at him in a grocery store parking lot.

Stupid horny artist brain. It was going to get Lia in a lot of trouble, that's for sure.

She'd tried to focus on work, but the kiss kept replaying in her mind. Curse Micah for being a good kisser.

She really needed to be on her game. Her job depended on it.

"You said you were with Lola at the Orchard Restaurant from 6:00 p.m. to 9:30 p.m, when you walked her back to the loft and discovered Javier."

Lia watched Artie's expression as Clive questioned him.

"Mmm-hmm."

"Three and a half hours is a pretty long time for dinner."

"Not really. We spent a big chunk of the time waiting for Javier to show. I'm not just Javier's art dealer, we've all been friends for years."

Something Lola had said earlier popped into Lia's head.

"What about you and Lola? How close were the two of you?"

"Very close. She's one of my dearest friends. Nothing more than that. Not ever. She's totally devoted to Javier."

Lia held back the urge to roll her eyes at him and instead casually mentioned what Lola had said earlier.

"Yeah, she did mention having dalliances outside of the marriage."

Artie seemed surprised by the news.

"Dalliances? With whom?"

"She didn't give any names."

Lia and Clive exchanged a glance but let Artie continue.

"Sorry, I'm having trouble processing that. Javier was her entire universe. Lola loved him unconditionally, while Javier slept with every model in Seattle."

His tone was sharp, and he seemed almost angry at the thought. Clive cut into Lia's thoughts with another observation.

"You don't sound like a very big fan of your client."

"Oh, I was a huge fan. Some of the best times of my life were with Javier. He was a brilliant artist. Not a great husband."

"How tall are you, Mr. Fiss?"

"You know, instead of grilling his friend, maybe take a look at one of the countless jilted boyfriends of the girls Javier slept with."

"Thanks for the tip. Now, are you going to answer my question, or do I need to get a ruler?"

"I'm 6'2"."

"Thank you."

"I think we have all we need. You're free to go."

As Artie forcefully pushed his chair back and marched out of the room, Lia blew a strand of hair out of her face.

"There sure is a lot of anger pent up there."

Clive nodded, but tapped his pencil against the table.

"Yes, but I do think it's worth looking into the boyfriends. You know, cover all our bases."

Lia had to admit that he had a point. But the face of the woman from her vision still burned in her brain. She hadn't been on the list of lovers that Lola had given them. Whoever the girl was, she was someone that Lola didn't know about. Which begged the question: why would Javier not tell Lola about this girl when he'd been open about the others?

"You ready to make some phone calls?"

Clive's voice drifted over to where Lia sat, doodling the outline of a young girl's face.

"As ready as I'll ever be."

After what seemed like an eternity of calls, Lia decided to stop by the morgue to ask Lia about the mystery girl and whether or not she'd appeared in any of her visions. As she was walking toward the stairs she heard a familiar British voice.

"Hello, Detective. On your way to see Liv?"

She grinned and turned to see Ravi walking toward her. She watched him carefully as he approached, feeling herself growing warmer as he got closer. His black hair was thick and had a playful tuft that bounced when he stepped. His eyes were a pleasant melted brown color, and they made Lia feel at ease. She suddenly felt the urge to press herself against him and run her fingers through his hair.

As he came to a stop in front of her, she closed her eyes and tried not to pinch herself.

First Micah, now Ravi. She was not about to make a fool of herself again. The horny artist brain was not going to win. No matter how handsome she thought Ravi looked in his green shirt.

"Are you alright, Detective?"

She cleared her throat awkwardly, and forced an awkward smile.

"I'm fine."

Though she hadn't meant them to, the words came out a little more seductive than she liked. Ravi shot her a quizzical glance, but gestured for the both of them to continue down the stairs. As they reached the opening of the morgue, they both halted to a stop.

"You really nailed the historic chin. Bravo. Thrilled to have you here, and if you haven't used the facilities yet, a urine sample would be lovely."

Lia stood in shock at Ravi waltzed up to her murderer and casually asked for a urine sample. It took her a second to recover, but she practically flew down the stairs and threw Ravi and Liv behind her.

"I'll give you to the count of three to get out of here before I rip your head off."

Lia could feel the rage burning, and she fought the transformation into full-on zombie mode. She didn't want to end up hurting Ravi or Liv. But, as she heard the words coming out of their mouths, the anger melted into surprise.

"Lia, stop! I was trying to find him. I never told you, but I had a vision about Blaine a few weeks ago. Ravi and I were trying to find him."

Blondie, whom Lia assumed was the "Blaine" in question, held up his hands in self-defense.

"I guess now there's at least three of us."

Lia turned to Liv and Ravi, hurt evident on her face.

"Why didn't you tell me that you were looking for the man who killed us?"

Liv opened her mouth to speak, but Blaine interjected from behind her.

"I killed you? I...am so sorry. I was on a really bad trip and I don't remember anything that I did that night."

Lia didn't respond to him. She was too angry at Liv and Ravi to accept his apology.

"What the hell were you two thinking?"

Instead of waiting for a response, Lia stormed out of the morgue, ignoring Liv and Ravi's calls.

She grabbed her purse and her coat and drove straight to the local hobby store. A canvas and some paint were just what she needed right now.

By the time Lia was done rage-painting, she was covered in paint, and she had a stunning new piece to hang on her wall. The stormy clashing of colors looked like waves on the canvas, and Lia smirked when she thought of what Bob Ross would say about it. Nope, they certainly weren't "happy little waves."

As she stepped out of the shower, Lia heard her phone ringing wildly. It was Clive, and she hurried to answer it.

"Where the hell have you been? I've been trying to get a hold of you. I ended up interrogating the jealous boyfriends while your sister tried to get dates with them."

Lia almost smiled at the thought of her sister hitting on the suspects while serious Clive tried to ask them questions. But she was still angry at Liv for keeping something from her.

"I'm sure that was helpful. Were they more willing to talk?"

"Well Tasha's ex-boyfriend certainly was. He told us Javier was having an affair with Artie's 18-year-old daughter, Becca. She wasn't on our list of lovers, which means Lola didn't know about her."

Lia's phone practically slipped out of her hand. The girl in the towel. Of course! No wonder Lola hadn't mentioned her. Lia dried her wet hair with a towel and walked toward the drawings of Becca. The girl who'd been haunting her finally had a name. As she studied the girl's features and marvelled at her own inability to find Artie's features hidden among them. She was only 18, and Artie's daughter. If Artie found out that Javier had slept with his daughter, that would be reason enough to kill him, let alone his feelings for Lola.

"Lia? Are you still there?"

"Yeah, I'm just digesting. I think we need to have another chat with Artie."

"Glad you mentioned it. There's going to be a party in celebration of Javier at the loft. Are you up for crashing it?"

"I'm right there with you, partner."

After hanging up with Clive, Lia sorted through her clothes, looking for something to wear when her phone began to ring again. Without looking at the number on the screen, Lia answered.

"Hello, again, detective. Is this a bad time?"

Shit. She'd forgotten completely about giving Micah her number. She'd meant to ignore any incoming messages or phone calls, but he'd managed to catch her off guard, something that was becoming an annoying habit of late.

"Not really. Just going over a few things for my latest case."

A small part of her was going to lie and make up some excuse to get off the phone as quickly as possible, but the other part of her wanted to hear his deep, sexy voice for a least a little while longer.

"Well, I don't want to take up too much of your time, but I did want to know when you'd like to go out. On a proper date, of course. Not another early morning grocery romp. Although that ended rather spectacularly if I do say so myself."

Lia's stomach swirled at the thought of the heated kisses they'd shared. Yes, she'd have to agree that they were quite spectacular. Which is why she needed to say no. She needed to have control over her emotions, and she couldn't do that when his lips were around.

"I'm a little busy with this case right now."

"Well, how about you take a break and we'll go out tomorrow night? All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy, as the saying goes."

Thank God she had an excuse for the next night.

"Actually, I have to go to a work-related event tomorrow. Sorry. Perhaps another time."

"Okay, then we'll go the night after. I won't take no for an answer. Okay, fine. I'll take no for an answer, but I'll be unhappy about it. Can you live with the guilt of that on your conscience?"

Lia laughed, relishing the sound and the feeling of it. Didn't she deserve a little pleasure in life, too?

"Okay, fine. I couldn't bear the thought of you being unhappy. The night after tomorrow it is."

"It's a date, then."

As he hung up the phone, Lia couldn't shake the feeling that she'd either made one of the best decisions in her life, or the worst.

After an absurd number of missed phone calls from Liv, Lia finally plucked up the courage and headed down to the morgue. Both Ravi and Liv were deconstructing a body, carefully measuring and weighing each part, jotting notes down as they identified each piece.

Lia coughed slightly, causing both of them to jerk their heads up in surprise.

"Detective Moore! I'm so glad you've returned we-"

But Liv didn't let him finish.

"We're sorry, Lia. Don't be mad at Ravi for this. He was just being a good friend. I wanted to track down Blaine because he's the only other zombie I know of besides us."

"That doesn't make him a good person, Liv. He took our lives from us. He took Major from you."

Lia hated to see the hurt flash across Liv's face, and though the blow was low, she knew that Liv needed to hear a voice of reason. Blaine was never going to change. He was an asshole in life, and he'd probably still be an asshole in death.

"I know. But I'm willing to give him a second chance, even if you aren't."

"Fine. But don't say I didn't warn you. And for Pete's sake be more careful. Don't bring anymore homicidal maniacs anywhere near Ravi."

Ravi's eyebrows shot up and he crossed his arms in a pout.

"I can take care of myself, thank you much."

Lia and Liv exchanged glances before bursting into laughter. It was nice to not be angry with them anymore.

By the time the night of the party arrived, Lia was exhausted. She'd been haunted by another vision of Becca, this time of her in a pale nightgown, lying on an elegant bed made with satin sheets. Lia had to take a few cold showers to calm herself down. Javier was a serious horn-dog, and Lia was annoyed at how easily his brain sent rushes of lust down her spine. Especially when her thoughts turned to Micah and their upcoming date.

She never should have agreed to go with him.

Oh well, she thought as she plucked the slinky black dress from her closet and put it on.

Clive practically had to scrape his jaw off of the floor when he saw her walk into the station.

"You didn't need to go home and change."

"We're going to a memorial. It will put them more at ease if I'm not packing heat. I'm blending in."

"In _that_ dress? I don't think so."

Lia cast a sideways glance at the Clive's stare and couldn't help but smirk. Apparently this little black dress was all she'd needed to wear in order to garner some sort of reaction from her too-serious partner. He was practically drooling, and Lia began to wonder if she and Liv weren't the only ones who'd eaten horny artist brain.

"Why don't we invite Liv and Ravi to join us? Liv might get a vision or something."

Lia normally wouldn't have suggested bringing Liv and Ravi along with them, but Clive was doing an awful lot of staring and it was starting to make her uncomfortable. Not that Clive wasn't attractive in his own way. But Lia didn't need to go down that rabbit hole of horniness.

"That's not a bad idea, actually. Why don't we head down there to get them?"

Without waiting for Clive to follow her, Lia walked down to the morgue, her kitten heels clicking loudly on the floor. She overheard Liv and Ravi having a discussion.

"I don't trust him. I think he's dangerous."

Liv and Ravi turned to look at Lia as her shoes clunked loudly on the bottom step.

Clive strode past her as Ravi stared in amazement.

"Hey. We were wondering if you're free tonight. There's a posthumous art show for Javier's work at his loft. I was hoping you could join me and see if you get anything. Well, actually, your sister suggested it, but I do think it's wise to have you join us."

Liv immediately took off the gloves she was wearing.

"Of course."

"I got some very helpful information from the waitress who waited on Artie and Lola the night of the murder. She said Artie left the restaurant to go to an ATM. Artie attempted to withdraw just down the street from Javier and Lola's loft. It was at 6:45 p.m. which puts him in close proximity to Javier and without an alibi during the window you gave me for the time of the murder."

Lia automatically jutted out a hip and put her hand against it.

"And when were you planning on telling your partner all this?"

Clive turned to look at her and shook his head.

"Well, I got the info while you were at home. You came in looking like," he gestured at her body, "THAT, and then took off down the stairs to invite these two along. When was I supposed to tell you?"

Ravi interrupted Lia before she could come up with a snarky retort.

"What do you mean, 'attempted'?"

"Oh, he wasn't able to take out any cash because he doesn't have any. It goes beyond insufficient funds. The man is broke. He's basically living off credit cards."

Lia mulled this revelation over in her head. If Javier was dead, his art would be worth far more than if he was alive. The motives for Artie just kept piling up.

"Why would Lola cover for him?"

Liv interrupted her musings and she looked over to Clive.

"I plan on asking her that very question tonight."

The last party Lia and Liv had attended together hadn't ended so well, so Lia made sure to keep a closer eye on Liv this time. Photos of Lola and Javier were paired with his paintings, which Lia appreciated more now that she'd eaten his brain. She could see the passion in each stroke, the emotions that he must have felt as he painted each woman's body.

Clive noticed Lola among the guests and gave Lia a gentle nudge. She nodded in agreement before leaving Liv with Ravi. She assumed that one of them would keep the other out of trouble. She just wasn't sure which one.

As Lia and Clive approached her, Lola had a sunny smile on her face and practically floated through the room. Her smile faltered slightly when she and Clive approached her.

"Detectives. I didn't know you'd be coming."

"Well, we had a follow-up question. We were wondering why you never mentioned that Artie left you at the restaurant to go to the ATM."

"I guess I forgot."

Lia gave Clive a dubious look and waited for Clive to continue.

"How long was Artie gone?"

"I don't remember. Not long. Twenty minutes?"

"Twenty minutes? And how long of a walk is it from the restaurant to your loft? About five?"

Lola didn't say anything else, but stood unblinking at Clive for what seemed like an eternity. She then excused herself and Lia let out the breath she'd been holding in.

"Well, there goes his alibi."

"She didn't seem to want to give him up, though. We should wait and see what your sister comes up with."

Lia nodded and looked around the room for Liv. She found Ravi with Tasha, and she found herself unexpectedly annoyed with him. Though she hadn't explicitly told him to, she was annoyed that he hadn't been looking out for Liv. Speaking of which...Lia couldn't find her anywhere.

Sheer, unadulterated panic swept through her. She didn't know what she would do if she ever lost her little sister.

Suddenly, Lia was hit with another vision.

Becca was lying on the bed, arms wrapped protectively around her stomach. Javier was gently singing a song and placing his head against it, rubbing it a few times.

"Just think, Javier. Maybe one day we can give him a little sister."

With Becca's words, Lia's vision ended and she gasped in shock. The black and white painting. It was an ultrasound. No wonder Lia had thought it looked familiar. And if Artie had found out that his daughter was carrying Javier's child...well, his list of motives kept on growing.

As Lia came to her revelation, she saw Clive walking toward Artie. She quickly joined him, eager to determine what he knew about the baby.

"Mr. Fiss. Congratulations."

Both Lia and Artie seemed confused by Clive's introduction, though for completely different reasons.

"Excuse me?"

"Well, it looks like you're having a big night. Javier's paintings selling for three times their previous value. What's your cut?"

Artie sighed and rolled his eyes, clearly annoyed at Clive's insinuations.

"And here I thought you were an art lover. I'm disappointed."

"Oh, no, no, no. I love art. On a policeman's salary, it is kind of tough to keep up my collection. But I do have that one Vermer."

"Vermeer."

Lia and Artie corrected him in unison, and Artie sent her a handsome smile that made her knees weak.

"Excuse me, Detective Babineaux. I'm going to go...somewhere you're not. As someone who values art, however, Detective Moore you may feel free to join me."

"Thank you, but I really need to find my sister. I need her opinion on one of Javier's pieces."

Artie nodded and began to walk away from them before Clive stopped him.

"The extra cash has gotta help pay off some of those debts of yours. And maybe now you can get 20 bucks from an ATM when you need it."

Lia watched Artie's face turn into an angry sneer. She felt a presence beside her and turned to find her sister there, eyes wide.

"You seem to be suggesting I killed Javier for money. He was my friend, Detective."

"You were in love with his wife."

"I believed Lola deserved better."

"Maybe you killed him because he knocked up your teenage daughter."

Though Lia already knew, she and Clive both whipped their heads to stare at Liv's outburst. She must have seen something, too.

"What did you say? Javier was like an uncle to Becca. Yeah, there was love there, but it wasn't…"

"Oh, come on. You expect us to believe you didn't know? Did Javier seem like the uncle type to you? You found out that your best friend was going to be your son-in-law and it was a bridge too far. You snapped."

As the horror of the situation dawned on Artie's face, Lia knew that he was innocent. The look of abject horror couldn't be duplicated even by the best actors. It was unscripted, and real.

"Stop! Hold that position!"

Ravi's voice boomed at all of them, and everyone froze.

"The angle of the brush, it had to be swung from above Javier by someone taller. BUT, if Javier was on the bottom step…" Ravi paused to mimic how the crime could have happened, and Lia almost laughed at his overacting. "He stumbles backwards four or five paces and the blood spatter hits these steps. The killer could have been Liv's size."

As Ravi spoke, Lia turned to Lola, who stood near the steps. She walked closer to her, slowly and deliberately.

"You never answered my question the other day, Mrs. Abano. You said Javier never wanted children. Did you?"

Clive joined Lia as Lola played with her hands.

"You weren't covering for your friend Artie, were you? Artie was covering for you. The waitress at the restaurant wasn't sure what time you arrived, only that Artie left to go to an ATM. You killed Javier before you even got there. You found out he was going to have the baby, and start the family he never had with you."

Artie had wandered closer as Clive had been speaking, and he looked heartbroken.

"You knew about this? And you didn't tell me?"

"And 20 minutes ago Lola confided in us that you left the restaurant long enough to commit the murder."

"Detective! I did not-"

"Lola, stop! When I got back from the ATM, there you were, 30 minutes late and practically hyperventilating. Remember? I reached up with my napkin to wipe what I thought was red paint from your cheek. When we found Javier dead, I knew it was you. And you somehow knew I would cover for you. You used me."

"He was leaving me to start a family with an eighteen-year-old girl."

Lia had already grabbed a pair of handcuffs out of her clutch, and she proceeded to cuff them on Lola's hands while Clive spoke the Miranda rights. As he was speaking, a man Lia hadn't seen before marched into the room, nose bloodied.

"You little albino tease, look what you did to me!"

He lunged at Liv, but Lia clocked him with her fist before he made it anywhere near her.

"Good thing we keep a spare pair of cuffs in the car, Clive. Hey, Liv, can you grab them for us?"

She nodded and began to walk toward them.

"I guess you were right. It's always the wife."

Lia and Clive eventually got both Lola and Tasha's ex-boyfriend down to the station and had them booked. As Lia sank into her desk chair, she couldn't help feeling restless. They'd solved the case, and in record time thanks to Liv's visions. She should be happy, but she wasn't. She thought about Javier, who fully and selfishly embraced life (and whoever happened to be in his bed at the time). Lia liked looking at the world and seeing beautiful things in it. She deserved to be a little selfish sometimes.

Without realizing it, her phone was in her hand and Micah's number was dialed.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Micah. My case wrapped up early tonight. Is it still too late to do something together?"

"Um, no. I got home late from work, so I was just about to make dinner. Why don't you come over and join me? Unless you've eaten already."

Technically, Lia hadn't eaten anything since the night before, with leftover Javier on the menu, but she could pretend to eat whatever Micah decided to make for her.

"That sounds wonderful. Just text me the address and I'll be right over."

In record time, Lia found herself knocking on Micah's door. When he answered it, he stood open-mouthed for a few minutes before inviting her inside. It seemed that this particular dress was having an interesting effect on the men around her.

"You look incredible. I wasn't expecting you to look so nice. Here I am in my work clothes."

Lia looked him up and down from head to toe. He was dressed in a dark blue button up shirt that matched his eyes and a pair of black dress slacks.

"You look great. Besides, this was what I wore to the work-related event tonight. I don't normally dress this formal for work."

"I'd imagine not! I doubt any of the men on the force could get much done if you walked around in a dress like that."

Lia smiled and bit her lip slightly. She was feeling very nervous all of a sudden. Micah led her toward the dining room of his apartment, where he'd set up candles and two plates with lids on top. He pulled out a chair for her to sit on, and pushed it in for her.

"I've made you something special for tonight."

Lia smirked at him, thinking how adorable it was that he was trying so hard to impress her with something that she wouldn't even be interested in.

But as he pulled the lid off of the plate, Lia felt her throat constrict in fear.

Half of a brain lay on a bed of lettuce.

Author's note:

First of all, let me apologize for it taking SO LONG for me to get this chapter out to you. I started writing it as soon as I'd posted chapter 2, but so much has happened in a few short months. Firstly, my boss left, and we had to run without a manager for about 4 months. Then, my husband had to be rushed to the emergency room on New Year's Eve (don't worry, he's fine) and I was having daily panic attacks from that. Then, my supervisor's husband was in the hospital, and then she was out for about a month with her father who was sick. It's been a little insane at work, is basically what I'm saying.

A HUGE thank you to everyone who has favorited or followed my story! It really means the world to me that you like Lia enough to find out what happens to her. I promise, I have BIG plans for her and I can't wait to keep writing and figure out how to put them all in.

Side note: using the phrase "horny artist brain" made me ugly laugh every time I did so. Which goes to show you that I have the maturity of a 5 year-old sometimes. :)

Much love to all of you! Thanks for sticking by me.


	5. Chapter 4: Cold Blooded

Chapter 4: Cold Blooded

Lia stared at the suds washing down her drain, mind racing with everything that had happened over the last 8 hours. Her night definitely had not gone as she'd expected it to.

She hadn't exactly been thinking clearly when she'd rushed over to Micah's apartment after they'd arrested Lola for her husband's murder.

She'd been thinking with Javier's brain, which was basically an extension of his lower appendage. It was no wonder that she was practically purring by the time Micah welcomed her inside.

But the evening had quickly taken a turn. Instead of presenting her with a meal that would have been visually appealing, but not physically satisfying to a human-turned-zombie, Micah had left half of a brain on a plate for her.

The human part of her had panicked, unsure of how he'd discovered her secret, and even worse, what he would do with it. The zombie side of her was, well, hungry, and she almost salivated at the sight of it.

She shook her head as she remembered Micah's too-calm response to her.

"What's the problem, detective? Don't you like your brain a little raw?"

She'd turned in her chair, as still as if she was made of stone, and looked him squarely in the eyes.

"What do you want, Micah? Is this a threat? A bribe? Are you going to expose me?"

Micah's face fell, and he looked down at the floor in what appeared to be shame.

"I'm hurt that you'd jump to that conclusion first, Lia. I assumed that a detective like you would have figured it out sooner."

She wrinkled her brow in confusion before staring at his face more closely. Suddenly, she realized that the hair at his roots was pale, a striking contrast to the dark locks that covered the rest of his head. His skin was looking paler than it had looked before, too.

"Oh my god. You're…"

She trailed off, holding one hand to her mouth in surprise.

"Yup. I'm dead. And so are you. Now, shall we continue this conversation over dinner? I really am quite hungry."

Lia was numb, watching him sit and begin to cut into his own slice of brain with a fork and knife.

It all seemed so civilized, except for the grey matter on the fork. Lia looked at her own plate, half of her appetite gone.

Oh, god. If Micah was a zombie, how many others were there? Including herself, that made four that she knew of. And if there were more zombies out and about, how long before one of them killed someone or exposed them?

Micah paused from eating to shake his head at her.

"Don't overthink it. I can see the gears turning in your head. Possibly even a little steam coming out of your ears."

Lia couldn't help but be annoyed at him. He was so calm about everything, and he expected her to be the same.

"You'll have to forgive me. It's not every day that you get invited over to someone's house and they serve you human brain for dinner. Speaking of which…?"

She trailed off before finishing her sentence. Part of her didn't want to know the answer.

"He died of natural causes, I assure you. I get my brains the old fashioned way. My brother is an undertaker."

Lia blinked several times while processing the information he'd given her. She had no reason to doubt his story, considering that she herself relied on a sister who had easy access to brains, but she still wasn't sold on the idea of Micah being a zombie.

"Are you alone? Have you met any others?"

"Besides you? No. You can imagine my surprise when we met and I realized that we had more in common than being Marines and early morning jogs."

"How did it happen, if you don't mind my asking?"

"There was a party."

"Wait! You were at the lake party?! I don't remember seeing you there."

"I was in the back. I've never really been one for crowds. I got dragged there by a friend. When all hell broke loose, someone clawed my back, and I bolted."

Lia wondered if Blaine had been the one to infect Micah as well. Although considering the amount of people at the party who were doing the same drug as Blaine, it was anyone's guess who scratched him.

"So, I managed to make it to dry land, and I found my car and I got out of there before the cops showed up. I guess I didn't realize there was one already there."

He paused to wink at her, a strangely lighthearted gesture in the midst of a gut wrenching tale of gruesome murder and chaos.

"I made it home, but I felt god-awful. I started noticing my hair turning white, and my skin turning pale. It wasn't until I turned my nose up at a steak that I began to wonder what was wrong with me. I went to see my brother, and I practically tore apart the skull 90-year-old woman who was lying in her coffin."

Lia, who had been listening intently, carefully reached out and grabbed Micah's hand. She couldn't even imagine what he had been through. He'd been all alone, with no one to help him figure out what had happened.

He took her hand, and gently stroked circles on it.

"Ever since then, my brother has been keeping me in fresh supply. He's the only person besides you who knows about me."

Lia felt even more drawn to him, longing to comfort him with her body. She shook off the wave of lust, cursing Javier's insatiable appetite, and cleared her throat.

"I'm sorry about what happened. It must have been hard. I can't imagine what it must have been like to go through it alone."

"You weren't alone?"

"No, my sister and I were both at that party. She works at the morgue. She and I use our visions to help solve murders."

Micah's mouth opened slightly before he closed it and smiled smugly.

"Isn't that cheating, detective? You have an unfair advantage over the other officers."

"Well, I consider it payback for having a few disadvantages as a woman. Besides, not every vision is helpful."

Considering the sex visions that had plagued her since consuming Javier's brain, she had spoken truthfully. Micah nodded and continued eating his food. He motioned for Lia to do the same. She hesitated, unsure of what to do next.

"Micah, tell me truthfully. Did you ask me out because you knew I was a zombie?"

He wrinkled his nose at her, resentful of her question.

"I asked you out because I liked you. You aren't afraid to tell me off when I deserve it. You're smart, and beautiful. The zombie thing is just a bonus."

She could feel the warmth again, and this time she relished it. He was certainly the nicest man she'd ever gone on a date with. She'd never have to lie to him about what she ate, and she wouldn't have to give up being intimate with him, because she couldn't infect someone who already had the disease.

She shook her head at her racing thoughts. She'd barely met the man! She was not going to sleep with him on the first date. No matter how much Javier's brain was commenting on his "political chin" or "ocean eyes."

"So...where do we go from here? I must confess that I don't usually go on dates. Even when I was alive, I was more of a loner."

"Well, why don't we take it one date at a time? We have all eternity to be dead, so we might as well enjoy it."

He raised a glass of champagne, which, up until that point, Lia hadn't noticed was in front of her the whole time, and motioned for her to do the same.

"To death, and all the dates that come after it."

Try as she might to stop it, she couldn't help but grin. She clinked her glass against his and took a sip. It was refreshing, but she definitely wasn't used to drinking alcohol. She'd never really been one to partake, and after the boat party, she couldn't stand to look at it.

She looked at the grey matter sitting on her plate, pondering what she should do with it. On the one hand, it was acquired in a perfectly legal, if not morally ambiguous manner.

On the other, she wasn't entirely certain of Micah's story. He'd given her no reason to lie, but it was almost too convenient for him to have a ready supply. Lia's supply only came from Liv purposefully switching careers to something that utilized her medical knowledge, and also provided her with sustenance.

He seemed to notice her hesitation, but didn't seem offended.

"Look, you don't have to eat it. I'm sure you're used to a...fresher supply."

"Well, usually we get the bodies as soon as they're discovered. Then my sister and her boss measure and weigh the brains, and Liv serves me something delicious. I don't want this to go to waste, though. Let me find something."

He nodded in understanding, continuing to chew his food. Lia stood up and walked into the kitchen, looking through the cupboards for a container to put the brain in.

Micah was behind her before she even realized he had gotten up from the table. He opened the pantry in front of her and grabbed a container. Instead of handing it to her, he placed it on the counter and leaned in to kiss her. He didn't need to ask, as Lia eagerly took him up on the offer.

He ran his hands along her back, and she buried her hands in his hair. Common sense be damned, she was going to enjoy herself. He tugged at the bottom of her dress, and she pulled it up over her head. He paused for a moment to admire her body before pressing himself against her once more.

He had just started to fiddle with her bra clasp when it hit her. This wasn't her. This was Javier. She needed a new brain, and fast. Before she ended up sleeping with Micah and then regretting it. He'd already talked about the time they had. They didn't need to start off with flames, and then burn out quickly.

Micah seemed to sense the shift in her enthusiasm, and he pulled away, staring deeply into her eyes. Lia took a few ragged breaths and tried to calm herself down. She grabbed her dress from the floor and pulled it back over herself.

"I'm sorry, Micah. You must think I'm a tease. It's this brain I have. He was a total horn-dog."

Micah surprised her by laughing. She'd figured he would be angry.

"Don't worry about it. I'd rather wait until you're absolutely ready, not just rush in while you're under the influence of a sex-crazed brain. Not that I'm complaining about any of this. You are insanely appealing, in case you didn't realize."

Lia knew she needed to leave, and quickly. If he kept saying sweet things like that, she wouldn't be able to control herself for too long. And Javier's brain wouldn't be the only reason.

So, she'd gone home and attempted to sleep. Mostly she just tossed and turned and kicked herself for leaving. Deep down she knew she made the right decision, but it was hard to convince herself otherwise.

By the time she finished her shower in the morning, she had to scramble to make it to work on time. Clive was waiting, coffee cup in hand, taking small and deliberate sips as she slid into her chair.

"Morning."

He spoke slowly and purposely, eyeing Lia with a smirk.

"Okay, I'm sorry I'm late. I didn't get much sleep last night."

"Oh, I'd imagine not. You were too dressed up for the party, and that could only mean one thing. You had a date afterwards. You sure seemed in a hurry to get out of here last night."

Lia, if she had the ability to, would have blanched at his comment. The good thing about being dead was the poker face.

"Well, not that it's any of your business, but yes. I had a date. I went to his house to eat dinner, and then I went home. I didn't sleep well because I have insomnia. Get your mind out of the gutter, Clive."

Clive hid his smile behind his coffee cup, clearly not buying her story. At her steely glare, he cleared his throat and slid a case file across to her.

"Well, here's something to wake you up. There was a hit and run last night. Your sister and Ravi are already working on the autopsy, if you wanted to head down there and check on their progress."

Shit. Liv. Lia had been so preoccupied with her own problems that she hadn't gotten a chance to call Liv back. She'd gotten far too many texts and phone calls for everything to be okay. Something was bothering her, and Lia didn't need another excuse to find out why.

"I'll check on them, then. Thanks, Clive."

Without another word, Lia rushed down the stairs to the morgue. She was pleased to see Liv with Ravi, going about their usual routine of weighing and measuring body parts. But their conversation made her pause on the stairs.

"For him, I just dumped him and then I hit on him like the world's cruelest tease. So I texted him an apology and he hasn't responded."

"That's awful."

"Yeah."

"You texted your apology."

Lia had heard enough to figure out that they were talking about Major, but she figured that if she wanted the whole story and not just part of it, she needed to interrupt them.

"Wait, what happened with Major?"

Liv crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes at Lia's sudden interjection and appearance at the bottom of the staircase.

"Javier's brain caused me to throw myself at Major last night. Which, if you had answered any of my messages or phone calls, you would already know."

Lia knew that Liv had a right to be angry with her, especially since her reason for not being available was a date. She'd never flaked on Liv before, though, so perhaps Liv could cut her some slack.

"I'm sorry, Liv. I was...busy."

"Since when are you busy?"

Liv and Ravi continued their examinations, Liv's causally stated comment getting under Lia's skin. Okay, so maybe she had a point about Lia being too readily available, but it stung a little to hear it from someone else. She noticed that both Ravi and Liv had paused to look at her, and she took a deep breath before explaining.

"I had a date, okay?"

Liv and Ravi stared at her with blank expressions. She glared at the two of them. Sure, she hadn't been on many dates before she died, but it wasn't like she'd been a nun. Although that possibility was looking better all the time.

"You had...a date."

Liv spoke in a monotone, still wrinkling her brow in confusion. Ravi looked stunned, the words finally beginning to sink in. Then, a worried expression crossed his face.

"Detective, far be it from me to discourage the pursuit of your own happiness, but…"

He trailed off, but Liv finished the thought for him.

"Lia, are you out of your mind? I messed things up with Major because of what we are, and now you're going on dates with someone?"

Lia felt her left eye begin to twitch, a sure sign that their statements were beginning to get to her. She straightened her back and glared at the two of them with a look she rarely used on people other than suspects and men who didn't take no for an answer. Though she'd never seen it, it must have been terrifying, because it worked every time. Even Liv and Ravi shrunk down when she aimed the look at them.

"In case the two of you forgot, I am a grown woman who is capable of making her own decisions. What I do in my personal life is not really any of your business. Yes, Liv, I'm including you, too."

Liv pursed her lips, but nodded slowly at her sister's words. Ravi gathered his courage before speaking again. He spoke slowly, as if the quickness of his statement might invoke Lia's ire once more.

"You are more than capable of making your own decision, Detective. However...We don't know how the virus is transmitted. If you decided to become...intimate...you could spread the virus."

He paused several times, watching Lia's face carefully before continuing each time. Lia's eyes widened at his insinuation, but was gladdened that she couldn't blush. She was certain that her face would have been flaming by this point. Ravi's certainly was.

"I appreciate the concern, Ravi, and I haven't forgotten the reason that Liv broke up with Major. Rest assured, I am incapable of spreading the virus to my date."

Ravi and Liv looked at her in confusion, trying to grasp what Lia was alluding to.

"Micah was at the party. He's one of us."

Ravi's grim expression changed into a smile.

"As much as I hate to hear of another case, if we gather his data, we'll be that much closer to discovering a cure. Especially since I wasn't able to gather a complete set of data from Blaine."

Liv's expression was still stony. Lia looked at her, ignoring Ravi for the moment, and attempted to decipher what her sister was thinking. After what felt like centuries, Liv took a deep breath and spoke to her sister.

"I have to ask...how is he getting his supply?"

Lia had been prepared to answer this question since she announced that Micah was a zombie.

"Same way I do. He's got a sibling with easy access to brains. Granted, his brother is an undertaker and you're a medical examiner, but same difference."

Liv seemed mollified by her response, and Lia felt better.

"In that case, Lia, I guess I'm happy for you. If he goes crazy, though, we may have to kill him."

Liv's face was completely serious, and Lia's stomach fell. She hadn't thought of that. Before she could speak, Liv burst out laughing, her volume only increasing when she spotting the expression on her sister's face.

"Sorry, Lia. I was only kidding."

Lia shrugged, attempting to play it cool. Perhaps they needed to change the subject from her love life and get back to the case.

"So, what can you tell me about the victim? He's the only man I need to think about right now."

"Alrighty then, let's see…"

Ravi trailed off as he picked up a case file on the victim.

"Marvin Webster here. Family man, two kids, suburbs, owner-operator of Sea-Tac Bug Whack until someone ran him over in the Whole Lotta Lotta car park. Should be a pretty safe brain to eat."

Ravi looked at both Liv and Lia with a smile on his face. He spoke with ease, as though he was referring to ground beef that was a day past its expiration date rather than the brain of a dead man.

But as Lia glanced at Liv, who had smirked at Ravi's remarks, she felt a sudden sense of unease. Were they really going to get "used to" eating brains rather than real food? The thought of being a zombie forever made her stomach sink, though she knew she was hungry after refusing Micah's meal the night before.

"A safe brain to eat? Said nobody ever."

Liv's sarcasm broke Lia out of her reverie, and the sound of the bone saw made her hungry again. She sat down on a stool and looked at the case file that Ravi had been reading from.

From the basic information on the case, the man didn't seem the type to have had a lot of enemies. Yet, it seemed to Lia that the people who seemed the most normal on the outside were quite good at hiding something sinister on the inside.

She looked over the notes a few times just to be sure she hadn't missed anything relevant, and watched as Liv, who had carefully recorded the weight of the man's brain, placed it into a tupperware container and walked toward the break room.

She winked at Ravi, who was busying himself with measuring other body parts, before joining Liv.

"What's for lunch today, little sis?"

Liv cracked a smile and handed her sister a box of crackers.

"Sorry, Lia. It's a plain and simple kind of day today. I'm way too hungry to wait and make something fancy."

As Lia's stomach growled in response, she smiled at her sister and took the box willingly. In a way, it was almost as though they were kids again, making a snack for themselves after school, before their mother had gotten home. At the time, they'd made Ritz sandwiches with ham and cheese, but now? Now, they had to make do with cerebellum and hot sauce.

Lia had a few bites, enough to calm the grumbling in her stomach, and stood up from the table.

"Sorry, sis. I'd better get back to Clive before he wonders if I've joined the cadaver. Joke's on him, though, I'm already dead."

At Lia's wink, Liv nodded and kept snacking on her food. Lia waved to Ravi before leaving and heading back upstairs.

Lia stretched and yawned, a sure sign that she needed to go home. She'd been in the office researching for most of the afternoon, while Clive had been gathering witness statements and evidence. Clive had long since gone home, reminding her to do the same before he'd left.

Lia gathered her belongings before heading toward the front of the precinct. The officers at the front desk were talking, both watching the story on the news. The text on the bottom of the screen read "Walker Trial Begins Tomorrow."

Lia rolled her eyes at the news, thinking about the officer who was in charge of the case. Fleischmann wasn't a bad cop, but he certainly wasn't as thorough as she and Clive would have been.

She glanced at the tv once more, but this time there was a photograph of Wally Walker, the tech innovator who'd been murdered. She felt a pulling sensation rip through her and she was sucked into a vision.

She was staring at a photo, which looked as though it had been taken as part of surveillance. A disembodied voice spoke.

"That's the target. You know the drill. Eliminate him, and quickly."

"You've got it. Just remember what my price is."

"It'll be there. Just make sure you are, too."

The source of the voice stopped talking, as the phone call was ended. Lia saw the photo get placed on a desk, and saw her hand reaching for a gun before checking it for rounds. She knew the type of pistol that it was, and it was exceptionally good at noise reduction. The silencer on the front of it didn't hurt, either.

She felt herself being pulled back out of the vision, and she noticed the two officers staring at her. They both had looks of concern on their faces, and Lia felt embarrassed as she thought about why they were looking at her.

"Are you alright, Detective? Do you need medical assistance?"

When Lia had first started with the Seattle PD, when her visions struck, she had concerned many people by staring blankly until the vision was over. One of the other officers had taken her aside and asked if she suffered from epilepsy, and in particular petit mal seizures.

Lia could hardly explain what was really happening, so she'd used that explanation. She felt guilty about pretending to have a disease that many other people actually suffered from, but she figured that, though she herself didn't suffer from the disease, she could at least educate her coworkers about it. She'd certainly noticed an increased awareness of what to do in the event that someone had a seizure.

"I'm fine, thank you for your concern."

The officers looked at each other and shrugged before returning their attention to the television. Lia shook her head and walked back into the office.

She knew she was going to have a long night ahead of her, but she couldn't go home without digging into Marvin Webster's history a little more. And, though she knew she would probably get herself into trouble for it, the Wally Walker case.

She was looking into whether or not Marvin had a license for his weapon when she heard her phone ding. She looked at the number, surprised to see something from him so late at night.

 _Hey beautiful, I know  
It's late, but are you  
Interested in a drink?_

Lia stared at the message, waiting to feel some sort of emotion about it. Javier's brain would've told her to text him back and get the drink...and something else from him while she was at it. Instead, she felt nothing. Blank. Marvin certainly was a cold fish, that was for certain.

She ignored the message, focusing on her work. There were no listings for a gun license for Marvin, but that only confirmed Lia's suspicion. There was more to the bug man than met the eye. Unfortunately, this meant that Lia never left the office. She'd gotten so wrapped up in what she was doing that she'd fallen asleep at her desk. Clive's gentle shaking was the only thing that woke her up in the morning.

"Hey, I thought I told you to go home last night."

Lia blinked, trying to focus on what he was saying, and yawned before rubbing her eyes.

"Yeah, I was looking into a few things on Marvin."

Clive held out a cup of coffee and Lia graciously took it from him.

"I got you a dark roast. Figured you could use the extra caffiene today."

"Did you know that, strictly speaking, there is little variance of caffeine amounts in different roasts of coffee? When the beans are roasted they lose up to 90% of their water content. So, if you measure the coffee by scoops, light roasts will have more caffeine, but if you measure by weight, the dark roast will have more caffeine. But, since the amount of caffeine in a cup of coffee is so little, the difference will not even be noticed."

Clive blinked a few times in confusion before shaking his head at her.

"What, did you work at a coffee shop when you were in college?"

Lia didn't know how she'd known that, but her brain seemed to be full of factoids that hadn't been there before. Marvin might've been cold-blooded, but he seemed to have a knack for trivia. Clive was staring at her again, and she realized that he was waiting for an answer.

"Yeah, something like that."

She stood up from her desk and stretched like a cat before grabbing her bag of emergency clothes. She told Clive where she was going and headed for the showers. It was just what she needed to do to start her day.

As she showered, she thought about Micah. She'd blown him off last night, and she hadn't gotten a response. She knew it should bother her...but it didn't.

She felt nothing. No remorse for being so rude to someone that she knew deep down she was starting to catch feelings for. But even thinking about Micah didn't bring on the feelings that had been floating around her head the past few days.

As she headed back to Clive and her desk, Lia was surprised to see Liv already there, sitting next to Clive. He had an incredulous look on his face, and Lia wondered what Liv could have possibly said to garner such an expression.

"I'm not screwing around, Clive."

"I'm just wondering if this vision also contained winged horses and a dancing pizza. I'm not saying you didn't see it, but no psychic bats 1,000."

"You're going after the wrong guy. And from what I could gather, he's done it before, like, a lot."

"How is this guy even connected to Walker?"

"Something to do with debts."

Clive laughed, and Lia walked to her desk to put her things away, waiting with baited breath for Clive's next words.

"You want me to go to my boss, your sister's boss I might add, and tell him to stop a high-profile murder trial because the morgue medium said so?"

Liv looked at Lia, but she didn't seem concerned for either her sister's job or Clive's. Instead, she stood straight and stared Clive down.

"The victim was shot downward in the head from point blank range while on his knees. That's not a mugging, that's an execution."

"The drifter had Walker's DNA all over him. He was wearing his frickin' shoes."

"A homeless drifter who needs to steal shoes doesn't usually pack a Glock. I saw the murder weapon. He used a suppressor, more commonly known as a silencer, invented by Hiram Percy Maxim in 1902."

Clive gave Liv a strange look before turning to look at his partner. Lia glanced at Liv, and she nodded once. Liv returned the nod and began walking back toward the morgue. Clive tilted his head in confusion at the sister's nonverbal communication.

Now that Lia knew Liv had seen a vision of Marvin actually using the weapon on Wally Walker, Lia had to push Clive to investigate further.

"I believe her, Clive. She's never steered us wrong before. Besides, I've been doing a little digging into Marvin Webster. He is registered as a gun owner, but that particular gun was not listed. He frequents one of the local gun ranges and is known to use a Glock while he's there."

"Lia, we can't go to Suzuki empty-handed. Besides, we don't even know who killed Marvin! We need to focus on this case, and let the courts worry about Wally Walker."

Lia stood, glaring at Clive, who shrunk back slightly at her ferocity.

"You'd rather let an innocent man rot in jail than piss off Suzuki? You're not the man I thought you were. But don't worry, Liv and I will keep digging and find the person who killed Marvin AND prove that Marvin killed Wally Walker."

She turned on her heel, leaving Clive open-mouthed in surprise. As she strode toward the evidence room, she almost ran into Henry Percevill, the lead detective on the Wally Walker case. Luckily for Lia, he was also an incorrigible flirt who'd continually asked Lia out when she'd first arrived.

"Excuse me, detective. I almost didn't see you there."

Henry glanced at Lia, taking in her body from top to bottom. She smiled seductively, a much harder feat now that she had a sociopath's brains instead of a horn-dog's.

"It's all right, Lia. Did you need something from evidence? Perhaps something I could help you find?"

It was almost too easy, really. She hardly had to do more than pout her lips a little and he was putty in her hands.

"Well, actually, now that you mention it. I was wondering if I could look at your files on the Walker case. I think he might have a connection with my hit-and-run."

"Oh, really? Well, we've pretty much wrapped this one up with a bow, but you're welcome to look through my files. I can go over them with you, if you like."

Lia batted her eyelashes at Henry, who blushed slightly at the gesture.

"I'm sure you must be terribly busy, Henry. I'd hate to take up so much of your time. I'll just borrow your files for a little bit and when I return them maybe we can meet up? To discuss the case, of course."

Henry seemed stunned, like she'd hit him over the head. He nodded numbly before waving toward his desk.

"Yeah, um. The files. Let me get those for you."

He dug around his desk, his face turning more pink as he did so, and pulled out a large file with the name Wally Walker written on the top. He handed it to Lia, who flashed a kilowatt smile before taking the case file back to her own desk.

Clive glanced at her when she returned, but she ignored him and dug into the files. She pulled out a notebook and jotted down a few interesting things.

Walker, who'd been an industry pioneer, had been looking to sell his company. Lia would have been surprised that a wealthy man would need to sell off his crowning achievement, but she'd been listening when Liv had spoken of debts.

The more she read, the more interested she became. Wally had a few serious gambling debts, which was certainly motive for someone to kill him, but what really caught Lia's attention was the name of Wally's bookie.

It was a name Lia knew all too well. Frank Smith, the former Seattle cop, was infamous at the station. And not necessarily in a good way.

Putting pressure on Smith was not going to be easy. He knew every trick in the book, considering he'd pioneered many of them himself. Not to mention, he was bookmaker to half of the cops on the force. He could easily get her and Clive fired, especially since Suzuki had already decided to put a target on her head.

By the time Lia finished with the files, both Clive and Henry had gone home for the night. Lia carefully returned the file to Henry's desk, leaving him a note thanking him for letting her borrow it.

Hopefully Henry wouldn't be taking her up on her offer of meeting up anytime soon. She knew she should feel bad for manipulating the man, but she couldn't bring herself to feel sorry.

After all, she'd never hid her real feelings before. Henry would be a fool to believe she'd changed her mind so quickly. Her phone rang, bringing her thoughts back to the present. She answered without looking, opting for a formal greeting.

"Detective Moore."

"Good evening, Detective Lia. I was wondering if you're free tonight. I would have sent you a text, but you didn't seem to respond to my last one."

"Been busy. This new case I'm working on is pretty important."

"I see."

She could hear the hurt in Micah's tone. She had been harsh with her words, not only in choice but in delivery. She hadn't meant to make him feel less important than her case, but...in a way, he was. Right now all Lia wanted to do was end the call and go home, not talk to Micah or deal with the feelings she might be developing for him.

"Look, I'm sorry to cut you off, but I pulled an all-nighter last night and I just want to go home and rest."

"Ah. Okay. I guess I'll talk to you later then."

Lia hung up the phone, staring at it for a moment before rolling her eyes and throwing it in her purse. It wouldn't accomplish anything to dwell on it. If she'd hurt him enough that he was done talking to her, then that was one less distraction for her.

With a final look at her notepad, she took a deep breath and headed home for the night, already eager to come back the next morning.

Lia was up long before her alarms went off. Normally she'd snooze the first two and only leave the comfort of her bed for the third. Today, however, she was dressed and headed out the door long before her normal departure time.

She stopped to grab a chai latte before heading to the station and while she waited for the barista to prepare her beverage, heard her name being softly called.

She knew exactly who was calling her long before she turned around to face him. She momentarily forgot to listen for her order as he stood up and walked toward her.

"You know something, detective? If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were avoiding me."

Lia turned around to grab her chai and moved toward the door, finding herself being led to a small table in the corner. She narrowed her eyes at him, but sat down and took a careful sip of her drink.

Micah had a drink of his own, clearly a cappuccino by the amount of foam and overall lack of steamed milk at the bottom. He took a sip, mirroring her movements, and arched an eyebrow at her.

"You don't have anything to say, Lia? Be honest. Did I come on too strong? Are you afraid of being with me now that you know what I am?"

Lia resisted the urge to place her hand over his mouth. What was he thinking, speaking of their condition out in public?

"On the contrary, Micah. _That_ doesn't bother me. I'd be a hypocrite if it did. I told you before, I'm very busy working on a case."

"You've been busy before, yet you made time to see me."

She frowned, unable to fully explain what was holding her back. She herself hadn't quite figured it out. Was she truly attracted to Micah, or was that a result of Javier's general inability to keep his hands to himself? She'd tried thinking about it with Marvin's brain, but his cold and calculating nature had her convinced that she was only using him for pleasure, and that she didn't truly have any feelings apart from those of a base nature.

"I'm deeply sorry if I have given you any sort of false impression, Micah. I haven't quite decided what to make of anything. You know what my situation was before, and now that it's changed…"

She trailed off, hoping he would understand what she was trying to say. The pained glint in his eyes certainly confirmed that he understood, at least to some extent.

"Ah. Well, forgive me for taking up so much of your valuable time. If you do finally figure out what it is that you want or feel, let me know. Or...don't, I guess. Goodbye, Detective."

He stood quickly, and before Lia felt the tiniest twinge of remorse, was gone from the coffee shop. A few patrons glanced in her direction, with curious stares dissecting her reaction. Marvin's brain being good for something, Lia kept a stony exterior that showed none of the inner turmoil she knew, on some level, she felt.

She waited until her beverage was completely finished before heading to the office. Clive was already waiting for her, along with her sister. Clive and Liv were staring each other down, almost like they were waiting for the other to blink.

Lia headed for her desk, but was interrupted by Henry.

"Oh, Lia! Thanks for returning my file. Suzuki would have my head if I'd lost it. Do you have time to talk about the case right now? I'd be happy to go over a few things with you, if you'd like."

His over-eagerness might have been endearing if she were not in such a hurry to prevent a fight from happening on or around her desk.

"I'm sorry, Henry. It seems I have a matter to deal with this morning."

She nodded her head at Clive and Liv, and Henry smiled lopsidedly in empathy as he turned back to his desk. She'd have to deal with his unwelcome attention at another time. For now, she needed to deal with her sister and her partner.

"Good morning, Clive. Good morning, Livvy."

The two broke their stare down long enough to acknowledge her greetings with a glance, and immediately went back to the match. Lia interrupted them once more by sitting on Clive's desk, breaking their line of sight.

"So, is one of you going to tell me what's going on? Or do I need to use the interrogation room?"

Clive furrowed his brow, clearly irritated about something, but was the first to speak up.

"I'm not sure which is crazier to me right now. The fact that you used Henry's obvious attraction to you in order to dig through a case that's currently being prosecuted, or that your sister suggested we get ourselves fired by pressing Frank Smith for information."

"Lia, I know that Frank was Wally's bookie. If Marvin was a hit-man, this could be how we connect the two."

Lia stood, surprising both Clive and Liv, and crossed her arms as she faced them again.

"Clive, Liv's information is sound. While I looked at Henry's files last night, I came to the same conclusion. Someone could have easily paid Marvin to kill Wally because of the high amount of debt he had. And then killed Marvin just to cover his or her tracks."

Clive shook his head and sighed, placing a hand over his eyes as if it hurt to look at either of them.

"You do realize that we can get fired, right?"

With a Cheshire grin, Lia turned to Clive once more.

"Where's your sense of adventure, Clive?"

Smitty's Bar & Grill was exactly like Lia had imagined it. The regulars had long ignored the grime and the lack of proper lighting, but the atmosphere for a newcomer was enough to make someone turn heel and find another bar to haunt.

Lia glanced around as she stepped inside, seeing many familiar faces drinking and talking to one another. Clive and Liv were close behind her, with Clive sighing in annoyance at the scene before him.

"Welcome to Whitey Whitesville. How do you think we're blending so far?"

Lia knew what he was thinking. The trio certainly stood out in the bar full of old, white men. But Liv certainly wasn't discouraged by what she saw. Instead, she was almost enthusuastic as she ventured further inside.

"I remember this place. We had our Mu Theta Zeta 'Night in Ibiza Electric Wonderland' with the Omega Sigs here. You should see this place when the foam drops."

Clive glanced a Lia in confusion at the gibberish coming from her sister's mouth, but Liv continued, patting an older gentleman on the back.

"This guy knows what I'm talking about."

The man looked at Liv in abject horror, but didn't say anything. Clive gently pulled her away from the table.

"Uh, low profile. Let's go find Smitty."

They walked over to the bar, where a tall man was wiping the rim of a beer stein. He raised an eyebrow in surprise, waiting to see what the three of them would do. Clive spoke first, breaking the tension.

"Uh, is Smitty around?"

"Who wants to know?"

Lia recognized the tone. It was laced with a warning, and was meant to scare them off. Thankfully she didn't scare easily.

"I'm detective Lia Moore, Homicide, and this is my partner Clive Babineaux."

The flash of badges was enough to make the man smirk and raise his eyebrows once more, this time in amusement.

"I'll see if Smitty feels like chatting."

In a flash, the man was gone, only the hand towel still sitting on the bar as a sign that he was there. Lia watched him leave, but a swell of cheering behind her made her pause.

A young blonde woman was dressed up as Jeannie from the classic television series "I Dream of Jeannie." Lia and Liv had watched it as children, but Lia hadn't seen it in a long time.

"Welcome, Masters! Trivia Masters, that is. Get out your pens, it's TRIVIA TUESDAY!"

The woman seemed perfectly happy addressing the room full of men as "masters" while scantily clad. Lia shrugged, thinking of how uncomfortable she would be in the same position, To each their own, she supposed.

"I Dream of Jeannie. Can you believe she was the idealized female for these guys? When she got uppity, just shove her back in the bottle."

"Clive, I never knew you were a feminist."

Clive looked at his partner slowly, watching as the teasing grin grew wider.

"Call it what you will, but there's nothing wrong with thinking that women should be treated equally."

Lia's response was interrupted by the trivia woman reading from a card.

"What was the first Western to win best picture at the Oscars?"

The name formed in Lia's brain before the woman had even finished the question.

"Cimarron, 1931."

She heard Clive mutter something in her ear, but she turned to the bar to find a piece of paper, noticing Liv already had one in her hand. She glanced at the writing, verifying that Liv had come to the same conclusion and nodding in approval at her sister, who looked back at Lia and Clive with a grin.

"Are you guys cool with me naming our trivia team Piggies and the Brain?"

Lia nodded, smiling to herself at the reference to "Pinky and the Brain" from the Animaniacs. The two of them had rushed home from school to watch the show, and had learned the states and their capitals by singing one of the nonsense songs from it.

The tall bartender had returned from finding Smitty, and leaned close to Lia.

"Smitty'll be down in a few."

"Oh, thanks."

Lia muttered at the man, but wasn't paying too close of attention to him anymore. She was waiting for the next trivia question.

"Male Dayak fruit bats are unusual in what regard?"

"Lactation."

Lia looked at their answer sheet, but Liv had already written the answer down. Between the two of them, they had this trivia game in the bag. Lia had almost forgotten that Clive was with them when he leaned close and whispered something to her.

"I'll be right back."

Lia nodded, but didn't truly process what he was saying. Marvin certainly didn't pay attention to anything else when there was trivia involved.

"The bullet ant gets its name from what unique characteristic?"

Liv looked at her sister, clearly at a loss for this particular question, and Lia took the pencil from her and hastily wrote it down.

"Their bite causes as much pain as a bullet."

Liv formed an "o" with her mouth, as if the answer should have been obvious to her, and the two sisters continued to write the answers down until the last trivia question had been asked. Lia handed the answers to "Jeannie" and looked up to find Frank Smith glaring at her.

"Lia Moore. I thought I told you not to come here and harass me anymore."

"Hello, Frank. How are you?"

"Well, I was having a pretty decent day. Had a good day at the races, won a few games, and then Jeff came into my office to tell me that you were here. So tell me why I shouldn't throw you and your nosy partner out on the street?"

"Where's your sense of hospitality, Frank? You know I wouldn't be here if it wasn't important."

"My time is important, honey. Make it quick."

"I'm sure you've heard of what happened to Wally Walker. You were his bookkeeper, after all."

Liv, who'd been silently observing the brewing animosity between her sister and Smitty, finally spoke up.

"Didn't he owe you a lot of money?'

"Yeah, Wally Walker owed me money, a lot of it. He died owing me money. Now you mind explaining me why this is your frickin' business?"

Clive, who'd reappeared from wherever he'd gone, suddenly cut into the conversation.

"Sorry about this. You must be Smitty."

"Well, let me guess, you're Babineaux. You sure know how to pick 'em, Lia."

Clive appeared surprised by Smitty's comment, but "Jeannie" spoke up over the microphone, and caught everyone's attention.

"And the winner, with a perfect score, is Piggies and the Brain!"

Liv and Lia both threw a fist in the air, imitating Judd Nelson from the Breakfast Club. Clive and Smitty looked at them in bafflement, and the girls just smiled at each other in victory.

"We were hoping you could tell us when you last saw Wally Walker."

Ever the detective, Clive brought the subject back to where it needed to be.

"June 8th, the night he died. He came in here and asked for more time to pay. Cash flow issues, he said."

"Was that unusual?"

"It wasn't the first time he'd been in deep. But I knew he was good for it. He was going to sell his company for fast cash, told me that if I gave him two months, he'd double my vig."

"So, the man owed you a lot of money and ended up dead later that night?"

Liv's interjection was met with an exasperated scoff from Smitty, who was pushed out of the way by "Jeannie, who wanted to take a picture of the trio for winning the contest. After getting her photo, she walked away, still as cheerful as when she'd been reciting trivia. Smitty's expression was thunderous.

"Don't they have this guy? Didn't he go to trial today?"

"We're just going over it one more time."

Clive's response was careful, but Liv's comment had angered Smitty. The baleful glare told Lia all she needed to know.

"Suzuki's your lieutenant, huh? He likes to get a few bucks on the Seahawks from time to time. I should check in with him. Let him know how thorough a job you're doing."

Clive grabbed Liv's arm and began to push her to the exit. Lia turned back to Smitty with an apologetic frown.

"I meant what I said before, Lia. Stay the hell away from my bar."

Lia nodded, glancing once more at the barman, who was watching her curiously. She returned the stare, nodding at him before she left.

Liv and Clive had stopped by one of the posts near the center of the bar. It was covered in photos of other teams or people who had one the trivia contest. Liv was holding up a photo, showing it to Clive.

"Look who won on June 8th."

"Marvin Webster. He was here the same night Wally came to ask Smitty for more time."

"And he followed him out when he left and then murdered him. Where do we go from here?"

Liv and Clive jumped as Lia spoke up from behind them.

"Let's pay our respects to the Mrs. Shall we?"

Marvin Webster's neighborhood was as cookie-cutter as they came, with a white picket fence included.

Mrs. Webster seemed suspicious when she opened the door and saw three people standing in front of her, two of them with badges and guns. But as soon as they explained that they were there to investigate the hit and run that had killed her husband, she seemed relieved.

After leading them into the basement, where Marvin's "office" had been, she quickly went back upstairs, giving them full reign over the space.

"If this were my home office, my thoughts might turn to murder as well."

Liv's remark had a ring of truth to it. The dank, musty basement had a chill in the air, and a sense of claustrophobia. Lia started when she saw the desk from her vision, and she soon began opening some of the drawers, sorting through the contents.

"6012 Unusual Facts. You and Marvin would've had a couple things in common, then."

Clive read the name of a book title from Marvin's shelf. The rest of the shelf was filled with other trivia books that Marvin had collected. Clearly, the man had a love of trivia and murder.

"Mrs. Webster was sure cool with us poking around down here."

"Mrs. Webster doesn't mind us going through his stuff because she feels like he has nothing to hide. She has no idea what he was. Or, he was just a mild-mannered pest control expert and we're wasting our time. Nothing here."

Liv clearly wasn't impressed with Clive's response, as she rolled her eyes at him and ventured further into the back part of the office where Lia was still digging. She gestured to a lamp that was on a table near Clive.

"See if that lamp has a three way bulb. Maybe it gets brighter."

As Clive went to adjust the light, the bulb broke and plunged the three of them into darkness. Lia could make out Liv and Clive's shapes, but the room was too dim to see anything else.

She was pulled into a vision of darkness. Marvin was in his basement, sitting at the desk. He was finishing a phone call, and the same voice that had spoken in her last vision spoke again. This time, the voice was angry with Marvin.

"The job is done. I shouldn't be hearing from you again."

Marvin didn't miss a beat, feeling nothing in response to the anger.

"We need to talk. You know the place."

"Fine. We meet in 45."

Marvin didn't respond, but hung up the phone. As soon as he was done, he snapped the phone in half and placed it in his pocket. He grabbed his car keys as Lia was pulled out of the vision.

A light was shining on her now, from Clive's flashlight. She blinked, regaining her senses, and glanced at her sister, who was holding her arms in front of her face, almost as if protecting herself from something. She stopped what she was doing, gasping slightly, and quickly wrote three letters in the dust on Marvin's desk.

"Liv?"

Clive walked back to where the two of them were, concern in his voice. Liv turned to Clive, excitement in her voice.

"I saw the hit and run. It was definitely intentional. It hit him once and then back over him to finish the job. The car that ran over Marvin was orange. I caught the first few letters of the plate."

Clive glanced at Lia, who was still sitting in Marvin's chair.

"I've got something, too."

The girls followed Clive back into the other part of the basement and watched as he carefully pulled a gun out of a case that was tucked behind the staircase.

"Look what Marvin keeps in his tool chest. It's a Glock, with a suppressor."

"The gun that killed Wally Walker. How do you feel about telling your lieutenant now?"

Clive glanced back at Lia, who was still processing what she'd seen in her vision. She couldn't use it as evidence, since she had no way of tracking the disposable phone, and she had no way of knowing who he'd made the phone call to.

She shook her head, promising herself to follow up on the vision if she had more to go on. She supposed that every vision she got couldn't be useful. Some were duds.

Clive, who had been watching Lia carefully, took the initiative and called Suzuki, taking the crap from Suzuki off of Lia's shoulders. Lia would've hoped that Suzuki would've been grateful for two of his detectives making a breakthrough in a case like this, but Lia knew better.

The fallout from the discovery of Marvin's weapon was immediately apparent. Lia knew that Liv was going to get hell from Peyton about destroying her case, but she had more pressing concerns of her own.

Henry was downright hostile when Clive and Lia returned to the station. Not that Lia could blame him. She'd personally destroyed his case, and made him look like a fool. Not to mention that she'd used his attraction to her in order to dig through his case file. She knew, deep down, that she should apologize to him for potentially putting a damper on his career, but she couldn't bring herself to care.

If he'd done his job in the first place, and made absolutely sure that the gambling angle had been fully explored, perhaps she wouldn't have needed to clean up his mess.

At least, that's what she told herself.

It didn't make it any easier to dig through the DMV records to find the car that Liv had described while Henry shot daggers her way every time she looked at him.

She walked away from her desk to call her sister, grateful to be out of Henry's line of sight. When Liv picked up, Lia could tell that she was frustrated.

"Hi. I hope you've had better luck. The car had one long taillight, but I'm starting to think that there isn't such a thing."

"Well, I've got some bad news for you. I've found at least 79 cars that could match the description you gave me."

"I'm looking at pictures of cars, but I can't find any that look like the one that hit him."

Lia thought for a moment, and hoped that Liv still had some of Javier's artistic ability left over.

"What if you made a sketch of the taillight and we'll go from there?"

Liv grunted in annoyance and Lia heard the click of Liv's laptop shutting.

"Kind of annoyed that we didn't come up with that an hour ago, but I'm on it. I'll bring it by when I'm done."

"Thanks, Liv. Bye."

With the phone disconnected, there was nothing else for Lia to do except return to the office. She forced herself to turn around and head back, but she was surprised to find Henry standing in her way.

"Can we talk?"

Lia wasn't sure how to answer him, but she nodded a response. Henry headed for the interrogation room, and he sat down in one of the chairs on the opposite side of the table from Lia.

"I want you to be frank with me, Lia. Are you attracted to me at all?"

Lia was momentarily stunned by his question. She'd never expected him to ask her that. If she was being honest, while Henry was attractive and kind, she didn't feel any sort of spark with him. Even if she'd met him before she'd been turned, she would've considered him a friend, not a potential romantic interest.

"Henry, I think this question is rather inappropriate, don't you? We work together. Fraternization is prohibited in the SPD."

Henry took a deep breath and stared intensely at Lia.

"I asked you a question, rules be damned. Are you attracted to me?"

"No. I'm not."

The contempt in his eyes was more evident this time he looked at her.

"So, you used my attraction for you to screw up my case? That's low, even for you."

"I didn't screw up your case. I did my job, Henry. I am trying to find the person who killed Marvin Webster. I discovered that he killed Wally Walker. If you had investigated the way you should have, then you might have been the one to figure that out."

"Don't turn this around on me. I had an open and shut case. There was no reason to investigate the gambling angle."

"What did you think was going to happen, Henry? I asked for your files, which you kindly lent to me, and I returned them. Were you expecting something from me in return? A date? A one night stand? And you think _I_ used _you_? You sit there and pretend to be a 'nice guy' who was taken advantage of, but you were expecting me to repay your kindness with something that you wanted."

Henry blinked rapidly, clearly taken aback by her words. He probably didn't deserve everything she'd thrown at him, but too many of her fellow cops had tried using favors she'd done them as ways to get her to go on a date.

She pushed herself up from the table and left the room, ignoring Henry as he called out to her. Maybe her words struck a chord in him, but she wasn't about to stick around and find out.

Not long after she'd returned to her desk, Liv walked in with her drawing.

"Here's the taillight. If you compare it with the cars at the DMV, you should be able to find it."

The look on Liv's face made Lia pause, reaching out to grab her sister's arm.

"Hey, are you okay?"

"Yeah, I just had a fight with Peyton. I'll be okay, though. These brains are the worst."

Lia didn't respond to her sister, but watched as Henry returned to his desk, avoiding her stare.

"You said it, Liv."

"I gotta get to work. If you find anything, let me know."

Lia immediately dug into the stack of records, comparing the cars on the list to the sketch Liv had given her. Clive was busy sorting through other records within the case file, now that Suzuki had given them access to the Wally Walker case.

It didn't take her long to find a match, and she contacted the man who'd originally owned the car, a Patrick Edward. He told he that he would be stopping by later in the evening. While Lia waited for the owner to show up, she glanced up and noticed Liv, Major, and a young kid standing in the doorway of the department.

She motioned for Clive to follow her, and walked over to the doorway.

"Hi, Major. What's going on? Who's this?"

"Lia. This is Jerome, one of my kids at the home. We haven't gotten any help from your friends who deal with missing persons. I thought you and your partner could help us."

"Of course. Why don't we take a seat in the hallway?"

Liv, who'd become the unofficial spokesperson for Jerome and Major, tried to explain the situation to Clive, who already had his notebook out.

"Major is a counselor at Helton Shelter, a halfway house for teen runaways, delinquents, addicts…"

"Yeah, addicts are the key to a good party."

Liv ignored Jerome's interjection and continued.

"Jerome's roommate at Helton, Eddie Cisco, disappeared four days ago. He reported it to Major and now they're here."

"No, we're not just here. We've been riding the police for the last three days, who've done absolutely nothing."

He looked at Lia apologetically, as though speaking ill of her colleagues would negatively impact her feelings for him, and she nodded in understanding.

"Did you file a missing persons report?"

"Yes. There have been no follow-ups. They didn't even call the hospitals."

Lia felt a surge of annoyance at the cops who were in charge of the investigation. Clearly, there was a lack of action because of a lack of empathy.

"I've got to ask. Are you sure Eddie didn't just take off? He wouldn't be the first shelter kid to jet."

"He was doing really well."

"His iPod is still in its dock, okay? If you knew Eddie, you'd know he didn't plan on leaving."

Major and Jerome's concern about Eddie was genuine, and Lia knew that she and Clive needed to help them in any way that they could.

"Is there anything else about him to help me out? Like, places he'd hang?"

Jerome looked at Major, who nodded in encouragement.

"Eddie's a skater. He'd go to Nine Trolls, this skate park near Helton. He started going less, though. Some scary dude was hanging around. Eddie said people called him the Candyman 'cause he was passing out Utopium like they was jelly beans. If you were willing to follow him back to his child molester van or whatever."

Lia's ears perked up at the mention of this "Candyman" figure. It was likely that he was the cause of Eddie's disappearance. Once this case was over, she'd have to personally look into it. She looked at Clive for affirmation of this idea, but his eyes were darting back to the offices, where a man was waiting at her desk.

"All right. I'm gonna walk this over to Missing Persons right now, get Eddie to the top of the pile. Nice kicks."

Clive motioned to Jerome's shoes, which had the American flag emblazoned on them.

"Section 8 of the Flag Code states that the American Flag should never be used as apparel, although enforcement of the code conflicts with your first Amendment right to freedom of speech, as laid out in the 1990 Supreme Court case _United States v. Eichman."_

Liv's random burst of trivia resulted in more than a few strange looks from Major, Clive, and Jerome, but Lia merely nodded along in understanding.

"You didn't tell me you were marrying Siri."

"We should get going. Thanks Lia...Liv."

"You really think you can do better than my boy here?"

"Jerome."

Major's tone was harsh, but Jerome acquiesced.

"I'll see you around."

"Yeah."

Liv watched Major leave with an oddly blank expression. Lia knew that, with Marvin's brain, she wouldn't be torn apart inside. But what was going to happen when it wore off?

"Hey, Liv, let's go."

At her sister's words, Liv jerked back to the present and followed Lia back into the office. Lia explained that the person waiting at her desk was the owner of the car that had run over Marvin, and had sold it the day before Marvin was murdered.

As the three of them explained the situation to the man, he seemed stunned.

"Are you sure it was my car? I can't believe the guy I sold it to killed someone."

"Any information you could give us about him would be helpful."

"Well, that's the thing, he was very specific about not wanting to give his name. He wore sunglasses, a hat. He paid well over what I was asking."

"That's a red flag. You didn't think to be suspicious?"

"Hey, I couldn't have known what he was going to do. But, the funny thing is, I already recognized the guy. The guy's been all over the news lately. There was another picture of him in the paper a couple of days ago. I brought it with me."

He unfurled the paper and held it out to Lia. The front page had a picture from the press conference where they announced that Wally Walker's murderer had been caught. Clive pointed at one of the men in the photo.

"This man? The guy who collected the reward for turning in Gus Williams?"

"No, not him. Him."

"Don Watts? That's Wally Walker's angel investor. He offered the reward."

"The car is probably at the bottom of a lake by now."

"The car still has LoJack on it. Does that help?"

Lia beamed at Patrick, who smiled in return.

"Yes. Yes it does."

With Patrick's help, they were able to locate the car, which had been taken by a teenager who had found it with the keys still inside. The DNA evidence in the car pointed to Don Watts, and Marvin Webster's DNA was on the bumper.

The evidence was clear: Don Watts was the killer. But proving he killed Marvin was going to be a challenge.

As soon as he was ushered into the interrogation room, Lia felt the smugness rolling off of him. He was wealthy, and he looked around the room in contempt. Clearly, he wasn't impressed with any of them.

"Seattle Suit Factory, am I right?"

Don pointed at Clive's outfit, attempting to make a mockery of it.

"Ever been to Luly Yang in the Fairmont Olympic? She does women's high fashion, but she'll make an exception as a favor. I could make a call."

His attitude was pissing Lia off. She needed to keep her disdain for him hidden, so she needed to change the subject.

"Forget fashion. What about cars? Yours, in fact."

"I have lots of cars. Which one do you want to talk about? If there's one you like, you and I can go for a ride later."

He winked at her, but she maintained her composure. Clive cleared his throat and dropped a photo onto the table.

"Let's talk about the 1978 Landau."

"'78 Landau? Doesn't sound like me."

"We caught a teenager joyriding in it. He claimed that he found it with the windows down and the keys in the ignition. It had Marvin Webster's blood and hair on the bumper."

"Who's Marvin Webster?"

"A contract killer. We believe he murdered your business partner, Wally Walker. We know that this was the car that ran Marvin Webster over, and we know that you paid cash for this car the day before the murder. The man who sold it to you, one Patrick Edward, saw your picture in the newspaper. And your DNA is in the car."

"Hair follicles. You gotta watch those."

Liv's smug retort almost mirrored Don's attitude, and Lia was impressed that her sister was giving back as much as they were getting.

"Oh, _that_ '78 Landau."

"My client appeared here as a courtesy. If you had anything to charge him with, you'd do it. Let's go, Don."

Don's lawyer, who'd been quiet up until this point, made a move to leave when Don stopped him.

"I don't know. I kind of wanna hear how this story ends."

Clive looked at Lia, who picked up the conversation again.

"Wally was a genius programmer, there's no denying that. But, he had a problem. His gambling was going to sink the company. He needed fast cash to pay off his debts, so he planned on selling out to Redmond rather than wait and go public like you wanted to do."

Lia nodded to Clive, who continued.

"You took care of the problem, and made tens of millions of dollars in the process."

"I do remember the tens of millions."

Lia ignored him, fighting back the urge to punch the smug expression off of his face.

"After Marvin did your dirty work, you decided to tie up the loose ends. Cell phone records show you were called from a disposable cell phone 45 minutes before Marvin Webster was run over. What was that call about?"

"How would I know? I'm sorry, did you say you found this disposable phone on this hit man?"

As Lia and Clive glanced at each other, Don continued.

"No, I guess not. But let's say I did hit someone. I bought that Landau to restore. It's a classic, you know. But maybe I did hit something that night. Maybe I thought it was a deer, but I wasn't sure. Maybe I wasn't thinking clearly and just walked away from the car. But this Marvin Webster business? Never met the man. Good luck proving that."

"We'll be placing you under arrest for vehicular manslaughter."

"You said he was a murderer, right? Did you know that I'm on the cover of _Rainier Magazine_?"

"I have a copy of it on my desk. I was hoping to get you to sign it before we send you down to Walla Walla."

Don didn't seem fazed by Clive's threats. He seemed to take a disgusting amount of joy in them. He knew that he was wealthy enough to get away with anything, and Lia knew enough about the law to know that he was probably right.

"If I did run over this Marvin Webster, it's just another example of my tireless work on behalf of the good people of Seattle. This arrest may get me elected mayor."

Clive scoffed and shook his head at Don.

"How many days do you really think I'll spend behind bars? Be honest. I'll give you a hint. It's a round number."

He made a zero with his hand, and his attorney reassured him.

"I'll have you out within the hour, Don."

Lia looked at Clive, and she knew they were out of options. They were going to have to let him walk, unless they could make a connection between the two.

They left the interrogation room, Liv hot on their heels.

"What are we going to do?"

Lia closed her eyes and thought about all the pieces they had so far. They had the DNA evidence, the motive, and the connection between Wally Walker and Marvin Webster. Now they needed to connect Marvin and Don Watts.

Lia's eyes snapped open as she thought about her last vision. She'd heard the last phone conversation between Don and Marvin in the vision. Marvin had reached for his car keys. The model vehicle he drove had a standard built-in GPS. If Marvin had entered the destination in the GPS, they might be able to find witnesses to the meeting.

"I've got an idea, guys. But we're going to piss off Mrs. Webster."

The yelling and screaming about her husband being a good man was all made worth it when Marvin's second to last GPS entry led them straight to 976 Ringroad Crescent. There was nothing particularly remarkable about the meeting spot.

There was a small dog park surrounded by a chain link fence. Lia and Clive were showing pictures of Marvin and Don to the people in the park, without much success. Lia walked back to the car, cursing to herself. Maybe the whole thing had been a stupid Hail Mary, and Don would walk anyway.

She sat down in the driver's seat, admiring the soft leather. Marvin might have been a cold blooded killer, but he had good taste in cars. Glancing over at her sister, who'd just taken a bite of Marvin's brain, Lia felt her mouth water. She hadn't eaten in a few days, but she wasn't certain that she wanted another dose of sociopath.

Clive walked over to Liv's window and shook his head.

"Lots of dog owners, but no one who saw Don, Marvin, or his Bug-Whack mobile. How's it going here, any good vibrations?"

"Not yet."

"Um, keep at it. I'm gonna keep asking around. Somebody might have seen these guys."

Lia groaned, unwilling to get out of the car again, but opened the door to step out. As she took a step out of the car, she heard the familiar sound of an ice cream truck. Lia laughed to herself as she remembered when their little brother chased the ice cream man down the street, thinking that he'd skipped their house on purpose. Only their grandmother had been able to keep up with him.

She turned to ask Liv if she'd remembered the same thing, but found her sister staring off into space. She crossed her fingers and waited for Liv to snap out of the vision. Liv began to gasp, and Lia knew she'd seen something.

Lia called Clive over, and the two of them waiting eagerly to hear what Liv had to say.

"There was a witness. A garbage man. I couldn't see his face, but if we can find him, we can prove that Watts met with the exterminator."

"All right, Lia and I will track down the sanitation crew that worked this street that day. You're coming, right?"

"I can't, actually. I promised Ravi that I'd help him with some research."

Lia glanced at her sister curiously. Neither Liv nor Ravi had included her in whatever project they were working on. She felt a twinge of hurt at being excluded from whatever they were doing. She'd thought that, by now, Ravi considered her a friend. Apparently she was the only one who felt that way.

After dropping Liv off, Lia and Clive went back to the office, eager to track down the garbage man. They identified the men who were part of the crew, and had called them in for questioning. There was nothing else to do but wait, when Lia noticed her phone ringing.

"Hi, Liv."

"Lia? Um. Ravi and I need your help."

"With what?"

"You know, helping you dispose of a corpse is technically a felony. As a detective, I feel obligated to tell you that."

Lia carefully grabbed one end of the body bag they'd placed Marcy in, and helped Ravi carry it to the car. She carefully removed the gloves, careful not to get any of the blood on her clothing.

"We appreciate the help, detective. Hopefully we won't have too many bodies for you to help us dispose of."

Lia handed Liv the spare set of clothing she had asked for, and Liv walked away to find a place to change.

Ravi rubbed his leg, wincing slightly as he did. Lia wrinkled her brow and crossed her arms.

"So, are you going to tell me what the hell happened here? I feel like you'd crack under interrogation before Liv would."

Ravi sighed and ran a hand through his thick, black hair, mussing it slightly.

"There was a video. Some kids took it, claiming it was a zombie. We came to investigate a few days ago and Liv realized it was Marcy. She was completely gone, no trace of humanity left. I fed her in the attempt to improve her condition. It...didn't work."

Ravi paused, an embarrassed flush creeping up his neck. Lia nodded encouragingly and he continued.

"Liv wanted to kill her, and I wanted some samples. I...fell into the pit while attempting to fill a syringe. Liv killed Marcy to protect me."

Lia, who'd been emotionless throughout most of the story, uncrossed her arms and walked over to where Ravi was standing. She enveloped him in a hug, which he returned. She pulled back slightly and looked up into his eyes.

"If you're doing something dangerous, please include me. I would never want you to get hurt."

"Okay, Lia. We didn't mean to keep it from you. It wouldn't be the worst idea to have police backup next time."

Lia hugged him once more, breathing in a scent that made her mouth water. She'd never noticed how good Ravi smelled, but, in fairness, she'd never gotten this close to him before.

She abruptly ended the hug, and noticed a pink flush forming on Ravi's cheeks.

Liv returned, holding her blood soaked clothing out to Lia.

"We'll have to burn it all. The blood could be a contaminant."

Liv stared blankly at Ravi, tears filling her eyes.

"I almost let you die."

"Yeah, but you didn't."

Lia and Ravi watched Liv, who was staring at Marcy's corpse coldly.

"Liv! I'm fine. You saved me. All that sociopath swimming through your system, and you still found your way through. This brain...it's not who you are."

Liv looked as though she was going to hug Ravi as well, when Lia's cell phone began to ring.

"Hi, Clive."

"Hey, Lia. I have an update. I'm going to need you, Liv, and Ravi ASAP."

"Okay?"

"Trust me."

Lia hung up the phone and turned to Liv and Ravi.

"It's Clive. And he needs all three of us."

The overwhelming smugness irritated Lia before, but now that they had what they needed, it was almost welcome. Don and his lawyer sat in the same chairs that they'd been in before, but this time, they had no idea what was waiting for them.

"Okay, I'm back. I'm recording this. I wanna have a record of your ridiculous allegations when I sue you for harassment."

"Fair enough. You wanted to get rid of Wally Walker so you hired Marvin Webster to kill him."

"And defamation."

"Wally's death made you a fortune. Marvin likely figured out how much you were worth, got greedy, demanded more money, so you killed him and tied up the loose end."

Clive was concise, and to the point, but Don still played stupid.

"Who is this Marvin Webster you keep talking about?"

Lia calmly replied, her words dripping with affected sweetness.

"The dead man who called you on two separate occasions just before you ran him over in your newly purchased 1978 Landau."

"From a disposable phone that you don't have. That's some weak tea, detectives."

"Sure. In order to prove it, we'd need things like the address where you and Marvin met."

Liv, who was walking around the room with a folder, rattled off the name of the dog park before Lia continued.

"Stone Trail Dog Park."

"I guess it would also help if we knew the kind of car you were driving at that meeting."

"Silver, luxury, electric."

"Might even help if I knew you were wearing a blue-button down shirt."

Clive smiled at Don, who had begun to sweat.

"Seems pretty specific, doesn't it? But probably the most helpful bit of information is the conversation our witness overheard."

Don seemed puzzled, as if trying to figure out who could've been present that day.

"What witness?"

"The witness who picked both you and Marvin out of a photo lineup."

Don's eyes had widened in fear, but he still kept the mask of arrogance on display.

"From the witness' statement. 'You gave me a price, I met it. We're paid up.'"

The door opened, and Peyton walked inside. She nodded at Clive before whispering to no one in particular.

"He's here."

Don's nervousness had boiled over, and he turned to his lawyer.

"Do something, Harry."

"Let's walk out, Don."

"Wait! Don't you wanna stay and hear how this story ends, Don? It was garbage day, remember?"

Clive motioned to the glass windows behind them, which had been raised slightly to look out into the precinct. A tall man in an orange vest stood, talking to an officer and holding a cup of coffee.

Lia almost laughed at the terrified expression on Don's face. Gone was the arrogance and the invincibility from earlier. This man was vulnerable, and he knew it.

Peyton walked closer to the table, a file in her hand.

"Peyton Charles, Assistant District Attorney. I'm authorized to offer you this one-time only plea deal. Thirty years for each homicide, but you'll serve them concurrently."

"Get up and walk out, Don."

"One-time only. With good behavior, you could still have some quality years on the outside. But if you walk out of this room right now, I promise that you will never draw another free breath."

Lia had to hand it to Peyton. She was great at her job. She glowered at Don, making sure he knew she'd follow up on her threat. Clive turned the confession toward Don, and handed him a pen.

"The story ends, Don, with you signing that confession."

Don sighed, knowing that his time as a free man was coming to an end. He reluctantly took the pen, and signed his name at the bottom. Clive read him his Miranda rights, and Lia placed the handcuffs on him.

As Don was led out of the room, Lia and Liv walked over to the garbage man.

"I have to say, this is surprising. I never knew orange safety gear would be so flattering. I look positively rugged."

Lia laughed, the tension gone now that Don would be behind bars.

"I have to agree, Ravi. You're the handsomest garbage man I've ever seen."

"You were totally convincing. You held that coffee cup with real blue-collar machismo."

"Now, that was thrilling. I'm almost glad the sanitation officer couldn't remember anything. So, how are you feeling?"

Ravi's obvious care for Liv warmed Lia's heart. It was nice to know that someone else was looking out for her little sister.

"Brains are wearing off. I'm starting to feel like my old self."

"That's good."

Liv paused, clearly thinking of something in particular.

"I'm not so sure."

Lia wanted to stay and listen to the conversation further, but Clive was calling her over.

Suzuki held out his hand to both her and Clive, a gesture that utterly shocked Lia.

"Even I have to admit it. You did good. Both of you. Thank you for your hard work."

"Thank you, sir."

Lia didn't need lavish praise, didn't want it, truly, but she felt a swell of pride as Suzuki thanked her. She knew at the end of the day, that she could go home and rest easy knowing that the real killer was behind bars.

But a small voice in the back of her mind reminded her of something that she'd forgotten. She had nothing to go home to.

Lia stood on the doorstep, hesitating as she held her arm up to knock on the door. It was a big step, and she hadn't taken it in a long time. She was just about to turn heel and leave when the door opened.

"Lia?"

Micah stared at her in surprise, clearly not expecting her to show up on his doorstep. He had his coat on, clearly ready to leave. He crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow, waiting for her to speak first.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have come. I didn't know you were leaving."

She felt an arm gently grab onto hers, pulling her back as she tried to leave.

"You came all this way to say something. I have time enough to listen."

She took a deep breath to steady herself, avoiding his deep blue gaze, knowing that it would undo her.

"I know that I hurt you. I hurt a lot of people this week. I tried to tell myself that it was easier to not feel anything, because if you never let yourself get involved, you never feel pain when it ends."

Micah's blank expression gave no emotion away. She gulped, trying to find the words she needed to say.

"But I was lying to myself when I said I didn't feel something for you, that it was just the brains. I haven't felt this way about anyone in a long time. And it scares me."

Micah uncrossed his arms and put his hand up to his mouth, a nervous tick he probably didn't even realize he'd done. It gave her the confidence to keep going.

"But I'm willing to risk the pain. I don't know what's going to happen with us, but I want to know what could. If, you still want me, that is."

Micah looked down at the floor, and Lia felt her throat tighten in fear. Perhaps he'd already moved on to someone else. Was she too late?

His head popped up suddenly, and in one swift move, he had pressed her up against the doorframe and pressed his lips up against hers. She eagerly responded, running her hand through his hair, pulling him even closer to her.

He began to pull away, and she tried to hide her disappointment. He tilted her face up to his and winked at her frown.

"Don't go anywhere. I'll be right back."

"Where are you going?"

"I ordered Chinese. I was on my way to pick it up."

She pulled him into the apartment, closing the door behind them and wrapping her arms around him.

"Let's eat at home tonight."

Author's Note:

First of all, a HUGE thank you to January Lily for being my beta for this chapter and pushing me to get it finished. Much love you to, best friend!

Second of all, I've been overwhelmed by the amount of love for Lia and her story. I will do my best to update more frequently, but, unfortunately life often gets in the way. Thank you for all your love and support! It means the world to me!


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